Bionicle: Fellowship of the Dark
by Szirach
Summary: Spherus Magna made whole; the Matoran universe shut down. Two years after Mata Nui gave his life for his people, a fractured team of Toa must reunite and journey through the hostile, dark land that was once their home. Will they succeed in their quest, or will the ghosts of the past that haunt them leave them fractured and alone, surrounded by shadow?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The Matoran struggled weakly against the grips of the larger beings that held him, his green eyes wide with indescribable fear. He had given up on trying to plead -the Makuta had shown that they cared little for words, and the cut on his red Huna had been enough to stop him from continuing. His gaze shifted from side to side as he wrenched his arms and flailed his short legs, although all struggle was vain. The makuta that held him, each tightly gripping an arm, were making sure that he was high: his feet didn't even touch the ground below him as they carried him. He didn't recognize this part of the Matoran universe, and the way that he had been brought here made him shiver with fear. The corridors were cold and damp, as well as dark. He could barely distinguish the colors of the Makuta on his either side, although he guessed one was green and the other black and red.

The matoran didn't understand what was going on. He had been travelling with some of his friends from the Northern continent down to the Southern continent in a ship filled with goods: tools, supplies, anything that might have been useful to other Matoran. However, as they had crossed the sea to get to it, he and his friends' ship had capsized. They had struggled to keep each other on the upside-down ship, but still one of them had sunk, leaving only the Ta-matoran and his friends, a Vo-matoran, a Fe-matoran and a Bo-matoran. They had waited for days, talking, as there was precious little else they could do but wait and hope another ship would find them.

Their luck had seemed to shine, as less than a week after the capsizing another ship had come, with a small crew of Makuta. The Matoran had explained their situation and asked for aid, and the larger beings had obliged. While their shipment was too large for the Makuta ship, they had helped the Matoran onto their vessel and began piloting it away, towards the mainland.

Yet as they sailed, the ta-matoran had become aware that they were heading the wrong way to reach the southern continent. Rather than heading directly south, they had begun moving west instead. However, they had been unable to do anything until a great island had loomed ahead of them, and once they had landed the Makuta had brought them out. When the matoran had started pushing back, feeling frightened and ill-at-ease, the Makuta had pulled weapons on them and forced them to keep moving, walking into a great dark fortress. There, they had been taken to cells, each in a separate box of metal, and left alone. How long they had remained there, he didn't know, but eventually two Makuta had come to his cell and opened it, and that was how he was being carried against his will down a corridor, towards a sickly reddish light.

He soon found out what it was, for the Makuta carried him into the room. At the far end was another makuta, one he didn't know, black and gray and a sickly green, bent over a table covered in contraptions and what looked like parts from Rahi. As the larger two, still carrying the matoran, entered, this new figure hardly turned his head, merely flashing a red eye towards the small carried figure. "Good, good, good," he said, turning his head for a moment. "Put him over there, strap him in. We wouldn't want our subject escaping, would we?"

The words were followed by a dark giggle that made a chill run over the ta-matoran's spine. As the two beings holding him carried him over and strapped him into an odd contraption that kept him almost vertical, cuffs around his arms and ankles, the green-and-black makuta reached over to what seemed a blade in the sickly red light, and a pit formed in the matoran's stomach. He only relaxed slightly when the makuta turned back to whatever was on his table, his larger shape stopping the matoran from seeing what the larger being was doing. He saw the shoulder shift as the arm moved, and a terrifying shriek was let loose by something -doubtlessly whatever the makuta was cutting into. At last he reached over and picked up a jar of an odd substance, and the shrieking stopped, although it didn't stop the matoran's ears from ringing.

Humming to himself, the makuta rose up to his feet and turned, holding a wriggling form in his hand. His red eyes turned to the ta-matoran and he grinned evilly. "This is a Kraata, nothing but the essence of a Makuta given solid form. But a bit of this... a bit of that... and I've turned it into what should well be an ever-hungry stealer of light. And guess what, little Matoran?" he added holding it up until the creature -an odd blackish-turquoise- nearly managed to touch his powerless Huna, making him jerk his head back until it awkwardly hit the solid protodermis behind him, making him let out a small cry of pain. The Makuta giggled again, then paused, turning to look at the odd slug-like creature in his vice-like grip. "Oh, we wouldn't want the poor matoran to ignore who he's with, would we?"

He grinned and turned back to said matoran, using his free hand to force him to lift his head and gaze into the makuta's eyes, the matoran's odd gree meeting the makuta's bright red. "I am Mutran," he told him. "Creator of rahi, mutator of beings, and soon stealer of your Light."

He took a step back and, with a great movement, brought the slug like creature down on the Matoran's mask. The matoran sucked in his breath and closed his eyes tight, waiting for something terrible to happen. However, he felt nothing aside from the kraata-slug on top of his mask, and even that soon began to slide over him. Tentatively, he opened one eye -the other being covered by the kraata at that moment- and fearfully looked around. When nothing happened over a few moments, he let go of his breath, just as the mutated Kraata spread its feelers and placed its open mouth down on the matoran's forehead.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The ta-matoran felt a pit in its stomach, a growing pain that soon spread to his chest. His brow furrowed and he frowned as he tried to understand what was happening, just as another pain sprouted within his head. With this, the sensation was multiplied more than tenfold, and he tensed, letting out a scream of pure torture and pain. It was unlike any pain he had ever felt, taking over his entire body, mixed with the feeling of something being removed. He didn't know how long it lasted, it felt like decades, centuries. He wasn't even aware that the odd kraata had dropped off, for the pain remained, and only began to ebb a long time later. As his cries died, the matoran seemed to lose strength and he actually began to cry softly, hanging limply from the chains as Mutran laughed with successful glee. He didn't even hear when the makuta spoke, was hardly aware of the other Makuta who had dragged him into the room return and unbind him, carrying him away, didn't register the change from red light to nearly utter darkness. Even when he was thrown into his cell, it took him ages to realize that the pain was mostly gone, replaced by a hollow feeling inside.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

In the deserts of what had once been Bara magna, a cloaked figure walked quietly, the cloth whipping from the wind that lifted small clouds of sand and dust. Once black, the cloak was faded from dust and sun exposure, cut in places and torn in others from battles long gone. through a number of small holes, one could see heavy armor, crimson and black, scratched in many places. A particularly strong gust blew the hood off of the tall form, exposing a Kanohi Huna. Much like every other visible part of the Toa, this mask was old, very old, and scratched, marks present like scars amongst its dark crimson and black. Similarly, it was heavily modified, with a dark visor protecting the eyes from the sand and sun, and a communicator attached near the ear. With slow, calculated movements, the Toa lifted his hood back up, this time clipping it to hooks in the collar of the cloak. He sighed, his mouth opening from beneath a mask that was similarly made to protect his mouth, nose and throat from dust. Rolling his shoulders, he continued through the dunes.

After a few hours, as the sun began to set behind faraway greenery, the Toa of fire finally arrived at a break in the dunes: stone cliffs that fell to another expanse of desert. That, however, was unimportant. He was simply happy that he was out of the sandwaves, away from the threat of Vorox and other animals. Sitting down with his back resting against a boulder, he pulled a small claw-like blade out of a pack and pulled his greatsword and shield off of his back, cursing for the upteenth time the lack of a usable Suva on the planet. Well, that was untrue. There were suva, indeed, but claimed and he was unable to access them. His own Suva was still out of reach, hidden deep within the robotic body of the Great Spirit. A body that was far, far away, and within which travel was extremely difficult. No, he was stuck with lumbering his tools and spare armor around. He had had a chariot for sometime, but after the attack by the Vorox, he'd needed to abandon it and continue on foot.

He was grateful he wasn't an Agori or Glatorian. After nearly two weeks without sleep or any proper form of rest, he'd be dead were it not for his mechanical parts. Lifting the toothed claw blade, he detached it from a chain that was similarly attached to his upper arm. Carefully, he began to sharpen it. If he failed the next leg of his journey, this tool would be to blame, and as it wasn't his Toa tool, he couldn't rightly expect it to work properly. With time, he might be able to convert his greatsword into one of its alternate forms, but again, not having a Suva meant there was a risk of failure. He would far rather go without a fall of a few hundred feet, so having a small, sharp and maneuverable blade would be best.

As the sunlight finally faded, leaving the stone and sand warm and the air rapidly growing cooler, the Toa re-attached the claw blade to its chain and pulled his weapon and shield closer, lighting a small fire on the ground in front of him to chase some of the cold away, wrapping his cloak tightly around him. Blinking, he finally dozed off, knowing he was safe at least for the moment.

* * *

The Matoran shivered, mumbling some kind of gibberish as he was roughly thrown back into his cell. All he could feel was a cold, numb emptiness that sent shivers through every part of his being. The pain… the slug's bite had hurt so much. Curling into a ball, he sobbed a few times. It hurt so much…

"Satris?" a small voice hissed inquisitively. "What's wrong?"

The Matoran hugged himself, still shivering, his mumbling getting slightly louder. "Hurts…" he whispered back, his voice breaking.

A few cells down, a Vo-Matoran gripped the bars of the side of her small box that looked out onto the hallway. "Hold on! we'll get you out of there!"

All she received in reply was Satris' shivering and muttering. She gulped, worry for her friend taking her over as she shook the bars in vain. They didn't even move enough to make a sound. Letting out a small cry of frustration, she retreated to the back of her cell before one of their guardians -odd bipedal creatures made by the Makuta holding them- approached and hit its weapon against the bars of her cell, hissing a warning. Shivering, the Vo-matoran pressed herself back against the wall. She'd forgotten how scary they were. It could probably pull her apart without effort. Oh, if only she were a Toa.

The creature walked away with light steps, a reptilian tail trailing behind it. Once it was gone, the Vo-matoran returned to the front of her cell and pressed her mask up against the bars. "Crat?" she called out as softly as possible to the matoran in the cell between hers and Satris'. "Cratix?"

She heard a very soft whirring sound after a few moments as the only reply. However, after some time, she wasn't sure how long, but long enough for the whimpers of her Ta-matoran friend to have subsided into an empty silence, the metal of the wall shifted very slightly. It stopped, and then she saw a blade appear out of the wall, vibrating. It was small, made for construction and repair work, but similarly, small enough that the Makuta who'd searched them had missed it. The blade whirred just slightly louder as it cut through the wall of the cell, making a very small crack before it retreated. The whirring died instantly and she saw the eye of her other friend, a Fe-matoran named Cratix. He put a finger up to his mouth to tell her to be quiet as he hid the blade back where he'd taken it from, the electronic parts attached to his Kakama shifting as he looked at the crack. Looking up at her after a moment, he grinned, then put his finger to his mouth again and retreated out of her sight.

Approaching the bars of her cell again, the Vo-matoran sighed softly and gripped them with her small hands, pressing her mask up against them. Cratix seemed to think he could get them out of the cells, so she needed to think of a way to get around the guards. She gulped. What had they done for their ship to capsize like this?

Oh, no. She moved closer to the other wall, whispering again. "Ereyin? Ereyin, you there?"

The matoran received a moan in reply, followed by the soft, slow pattering of footsteps. "Where are we?" asked the Bo-matoran. "Miya, w-why am I in… is this a cell? What's going on?"

Miyaji pressed her mask against the bars of her cell and whispered in return. "Shh! Keep it down! I don't know what's going on, but the Makuta that came to save us brought us here. They did something to Satris. I dunno what."

"Did you see him?"

"No, they took him the other way. But he said something about it hurting. Agh!" she hissed, "Why are they doing this? They should be helping us!"

"I don't know, but they aren't helping us… we need to get out of here somehow."

"Right. Right, we should trust Cratix. If anyone can get us out… he can."

"Both of you, keep quiet," replied the one being spoken of sharply. "They circle every fifteen minutes. This will take more than that. I can get us out, but it'll take a while. Maybe a few days. Now shh!"

Miyaji gulped and sat in the back of her cell, hoping her friend was right, and hoping that Satris wouldn't be hurt too badly in the meantime.

* * *

The Toa of fire opened his eyes when his ears picked up a sound far off. His fire had long since died, leaving the blackness of night complete around him. He frowned at the sound; there weren't supposed to be any creatures nearby. He'd dealt a strong enough blow to the Vorox for them to give him a wide berth.

Pulling his sword and shield close and tucking his cloak so that he melded into the shadows, he focused quietly, seeing himself slowly fade away from sight. He breathed slowly and deeply, not making a sound as he waited for who or whatever was coming to appear. After a few minutes of waiting, he shifted a foot very slightly, stopping immediately when he heard the deep sniff of a native creature. Not vorox, much bigger. He froze calmly, waiting to see what it was and whether he'd need to fight it off. He paused as the head of a rock steed appeared. He swore mentally, wishing he'd thought to carry around a spare Rau in his bag. Similarly, bringing a Miru, a Kualsi or the like would have been useful in such a time. Without either, he would have to deal. While he did have a few spare masks, removing his Huna to swap would leave him weakened while the rock steed would likely charge at him.

The steed came out from around a rock and sniffed again, huffing violently, its breath coming in the form of a cloud. The Toa tightened his grip on his greatsword, ready to swing the protosteel blade at any second. After a few more seconds of sniffing, however, the steed left, and the Toa materialized back into view, letting out a sigh of relief. As much as a rock steed might have been useful to him, the risks of being hurt fighting one weren't worth it.

Sitting back down, the Toa closed his eyes again and waited for the sun to rise.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Satris took hold of the bars of his cell and shook them violently once again. They budged, but only enough to rattle very slightly. He growled in frustration, shaking them harder. Two weeks he and his friends had been stuck in this prison. Two weeks during which every day the guards brought him back to that makuta's laboratory. Every day was a painful nightmare as he was moved around, his armor and mask scratched, and different creatures were tested on him. Mutran hadn't spoken again of the first creature, some kind of leech, and when Satris had mentioned it the day before, refusing to be afraid anymore, he'd dismissed the discussion with a wave of his hand, seeming irritated.

Startling him away from his thoughts came one of the rahi-like guardians patrolling the prison. It opened its long jaws and roared at him, but he stood his ground. While his friends had luckily been kept safe in here, he'd learned things by listening as he was moved. One thing, he knew, was that Mutran wanted them in good condition to test on. This guardian could do nothing but roar and clang on the bars. He grinned at it evilly, shaking the bars again. "C'mon!" he yelled. "You useless Rahi! Come on! Do something!"

This seemed to confuse his guardian for a moment. It took a step back, looked around, began moving like it would charge and, finally, shifted away. Satris huffed and pressed his mask against the bars, trying to see anything at all further away. He'd caught glimpses of things during the past two weeks, and might even have an idea of how to get out, but as it was, he was trapped just like his friends. He moved back from the bars and slammed his fist into the back of the cell, wishing he were a Toa. Then he'd show the Makuta not to mess with him and his friends.

Too bad it was only a dream.

* * *

The Toa cursed as his hand slipped, leaving him hanging by the clawed blade that was piercing deeply into the cliff face. His cloak caught the wind, buffeting him despite the weight of his greatsword and shield. It took him time to free himself of it and regain his footing, by which point he'd nearly slipped off the handle. Looking down, then back up, he sighed with a mix of relief and irritation. For all the morning's troubles, he wasn't even a third of the way down. Carefully, he tightened his grip on the blade and pulled it out of the cliff face before jabbing it in lower down. That done, he moved his feet down and changed his free hand's grip, wishing he'd a Miru or a Kadin. No, unfortunately, he only had his Great Huna. The mask he'd had for as long as he could remember, although he'd gained others over time, either by finding them or buying them.

Sadly, there was nothing to be done about it, and his old jetpack was long gone, deep in the bowels of the Great Spirit robot that both Mata Nui and Makuta had used as a body. It was likely that it was in his Suva, along with all his collected masks and weapons. Millenia's worth of collected equipment gone, likely to never be used again.

Unless, of course, those he was travelling to meet had a way in. They might. They were brilliant.

Grunting to himself, he pulled the claw blade back out of the wall and continued on his way down.

* * *

 _Clink-clink_

 _Scree-_

 _Clink. Clink._

Satris opened his eyes lazily. He thought he'd heard something for a moment before realizing he'd fallen asleep again. Frowning, he turned a little on the small cot in the back of his cell. Then he heard it again, this time followed by a small patter of footfalls. Slowly, he got up just as the orange figure of his friend Cratix appeared with a finger pressed against his mouth. Without a word, he crouched by the lock and, pulling out a few tools that he must have hidden in a compartment he'd added onto himself, he carefully disarmed the lock and opened the door. Satris got up and walked towards him, whispering. "Cratix, what are you-"

"Shush!" came the almost immediate reply. Cratix motioned to him and walked to the other side of the corridor, where Miyaji and Ereyin were standing in the shadows. Cratix turned to him and pointed at the corridors. "Have an idea of how to get out?"

"Y-Yeah," the Ta-matoran replied, gulping. "Well, kinda, not really. I've only been in a few-"

"Lead," Cratix said. "We'll follow."

Satris gulped again as he made his way down the corridor. After a few minutes, they ducked into an open room when one of the guardians came lumbering past, holding their breath and hoping they wouldn't be noticed. They weren't, but the near encounter made them realise something; the guardians would notice they were gone. Or they likely would. They searched the room they were in for another way around the base, any kind of tunnel or the like, but it only opened onto another room. Counting and listening closely, they opened the door they'd come in and hurried down the hallway. Satris tried to think of where the Makuta had taken him, and tried to go in another direction. The lab had to be secure, so it had to be in the middle, right?

They kept running, following light and small breezes through the corridor, until they realized something important. They were utterly, hopelessly lost. Still, refusing to give in to panic they kept running, even as they heard sounds similar to roars and heavy footfalls.

Their escape had been noticed, it seemed. In a desperate bid to get out, Cratix pushed through another door. To their surprise, inside was a Toa chained to a wall. He didn't seem all there at first, but his focus came back rapidly when he saw them. "Matoran?" he asked. "Why are- nevermind. Get me out of these shackles, and I can get us out of here."

Satris stared, dumbfounded, while Cratix and Miyaji ran to the wall the Toa as strapped to and got to work. Cratix moved especially quickly with his blade, cutting through the protodermis. In less than two minutes, the Toa had fallen to the ground and quickly got to his feet. "My thanks, little ones," he said. "Now, we need to get moving. The Makuta will be on our tails very soon, and we can't afford to be caught."

* * *

The sun had gone and set and still the Toa wasn't done with his task. There had been several complications on the way down - and he'd almost fallen five times due to wind and falling rocks - leading to the going slowing down. He tensed as he looked down. There was still a ways to go, but perhaps… Taking a deep breath, he pulled out his blade and let go of the cliff, falling down rapidly. After a few moments, he dug the blade back into the wall, nearly losing his grip as it tore through the stone. Slowly, slowly, he slid and slowed down, until at last he stopped. Then he repeated the process, changing hands at every turn. It worked for a short time, and then inevitably the claw snapped, and he fell.

It wasn't an extremely long fall, as falls went. He'd dealt with much worse over the millenia. But the sudden snap was felt through his arm, and he fell roughly both on top of and covered by his packs. It knocked the wind out of him, and he felt a pain in his arm, but otherwise he was unharmed. He couldn't waste time worrying about whether or not any of his gear had survived. The important parts would have.

He groaned as he got to his feet, the broken remain of the claw blade a short ways away. It had been ripped out of the chain on his arm; he decided to leave it after a short consideration.

The going was slow after that. He didn't want to go too far in the dark, and after the fall he could use rest. As he walked, pushing himself on further and further even though he knew, he _knew_ that he needed to stop, his arm began throbbing painfully. With difficulty he pushed on through the canyons before finding a small crevice. He pushed himself into it and unloaded his packs, needing to rest. His breathing slowed and his eyes closed, and sleep came gently.

* * *

The four Matoran and the Toa had managed to escape the prison. Using his elemental powers - of magnetism, it turned out - the latter had torn a hole in the wall and helped them all down to the ground. An alarm had been sounded, but by then they were already running through the courtyards. They could hear guardians roaring elsewhere, and Satris saw an exo-Toa as they rushed through. Thankfully, they moved quickly enough to seemingly catch the Makuta by surprise. They ran between buildings and through stone, coming ever-closer to the outer wall. At one point an Exo-Toa managed to get close, but their new defender sent him slamming into the ground with his mask power.

The Toa slowed as they approached the wall, motioning for them to go on. Satris hesitated as he ran and looked back; before Cratix dragged him by the shoulder, he saw the Toa kneel and crouch forward. A glow came from his back; from it a disk of sorts materialized and then shot forward towards the wall. Where it hit, the wall began to slowly warp until a hole was formed through it. It was through this hole that they ran, and the Toa dove after them a moment later, picking up the stragglers - Satris and Ereyin, in this case - and carried them towards the docks, where a number of vessels were still moored. The Toa rushed towards one seemingly at random and threw his two charges in, telling them to get it moving, while he went back for Cratix and Miyaji. Satris got to work alongside his friend, and soon had the boat running - it was a similar model to the one that had capsized before the Makuta found them. By then the Toa was back, shouting at them to go. A number of Makuta and exo-Toa could be seen coming after them. The Toa's mask began to glow and, as the boat began to move away from the dock, he extended his hands, letting out a roar. Immediately, all the Makuta and exo-Toa crashed to the ground roughly. At that point Satris stopped looking, focusing instead on pushing the ship forward as quickly as possible, until the island was not even a faint form in the distance.

* * *

The Toa of fire awoke when the sun reflected harshly off of the stone wall of the crevice and into his eyes. His sleep had been less than restful, but he collected his packs and got to his feet once again. Sliding the hood of his cloak down over his head once again, he quickly ate and drank from what was in his packs and then slid back out of the crag, continuing on his way.

It was hot, but that didn't bother him all that much. The rock was uneven and brittle in places, and it made navigating the canyon a nuisance. Once again, he wished for a chariot - or a crawler, or any vehicle. With luck, he would find his brothers and sisters soon, and they would be able to discuss their next move. It dragged on and on as he walked; the sun rose, and fell, and he walked along further, using a flame in his hand to light the way. He walked through the night without sleeping, undisturbed save for some small Rahi-like creatures, and did the same through the next day, absorbing heat from his surroundings to recover his elemental power. The going went slower and slower as the day went on. He slept, woke, walked onwards, ate from his rapidly dwindling supplies.

Five days into his trek through the canyon, he heard a noise; wary, he pressed himself against the canyon wall and seemingly melted into the shadows. There, he pulled out his blade and shield, waiting to strike if the approaching entity was hostile. The noise grew slowly louder; as it approached he realized it was the sound of a vehicle of some kind. Wary, he crouched in his dark cocoon, preparing to spring.

The sound stopped, and nothing came. Then another noise rang out, as if a winch were unraveling. Wary, he prepared to strike as a shape slowly lowered down to the ground. Another Toa, his armor orange and a pale silver, wearing similar desert-ready gear and holding a shield with an integrated launcher. He looked around for a moment before lowering the barrel extending from his shield. "I know you're there, brother. You can come out now. We've a transport up above."

Slowly, the Toa of fire melted out of the shadows, standing before the Toa of iron before him. "Cratix," he said, his voice slightly raspy. The other Toa turned, his visor flipping upwards as he grinned. "Satris. Good to have you back. You ready for what comes next?"

"No," the latter replied as he set his greatsword back into his pack. "But when have I ever been? What crazy plan have you come up with now?"

Cratix grinned again, pointing up at something Satris could only guess the existence of. "We're going back into the Matoran Universe, brother. We're going to return to where we started."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Satris sat facing Miyaji as the transport rumbled through the sands, headed towards the remains of the Great Spirit robot. While it had been decided long ago that it would be dismantled and made useful, the robot was massive, and progress had been slow-going as conflicts arose throughout the planet. It was still almost entire, its innards a dark and unwelcoming place. After it had been evacuated years before, it was unknown if anything had survived - nor what condition any survivors might have taken on. It was a simple quest, when all was considered; their team would enter the robot to recover lost items and attempt to extract their Suva. What complicated it was the conditions they were likely to face. It was a worrisome quest, not to mention that it would mean reuniting their old team.

It was a reunification he wasn't sure he was looking forward to. Theirs had been a less-than-amicable split in some ways, a collection of scars that had built up over millenia of working together. Events and hostilities that had split them apart. He worried that they would never be the same as they once were.

As he thought, Miyaji stared at him from behind her Kiril, the fingers of her prosthetic right arm clicking against the bench. Behind the visor hiding her eyes, he could only hazard a guess at what she was thinking; he imagined it had to be much the same for her.

"So…" she at last began, some hours after their trip had begun. "What have you been up to since last time?"

"The usual," he replied after a moment, reaching up to feel the scratch on his mask, left by Mutran so many, many years before. "Wandering. Helping the odd village and inhabitants. Fighting what passes for Rahi."

"That's good."

"Passable," he replied. "Something to do. You two? Still inseparable?"

Miyaji offered a weak shrug. "Still inseparable. We've been helping best we can with the deconstruction efforts, but there's so much to do and not much to do it with. We've barely scratched the surface of the shell so far. And without operational Suvas, it just makes it more, well, complicated. I don't know how the Agori and Glatorian stand it."

"Habit," replied the Toa of fire. "They never had suvas or anything of the like, so they don't have anything to compare it all to." He sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Has Crat made any more gear for us to work with during this expedition?"

"A lot, actually. Advancements over the stuff we used to have. Modifications of old designs, using input from some of the other Toa. We've managed to make a collection of kanohi for the journey from what was brought out and from some donations. It's not going to be as handy as we'd like, but we'll have to manage."

Satris nodded slowly, a soft sigh escaping him. "Who's gathered?" he asked.

"All of the old team. Mali, Graven, Dec, Ereyin. They've set up camp with some Matoran and Agori and are waiting to enter."

"So I'm the last one, then," he remarked with a small, dry chuckle. "Figures. Oh well, we were going to met again at some point."

Miya reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're still our brother," she told him. "You lead us before. You can do it again."

"Maybe," he said, his eyes turning away from her, peering out into the distance. "Maybe."

* * *

Satris sat in one of the few seats on the vessel, watching as the Toa, named Harran, guided Ereyin in piloting the boat. They were all shaken by what had happened, but the Toa was still doing his duty: helping them. With his sense of direction, he was guiding them back to the southern continent and taking a roundabout path to avoid the Makuta.

None of them understood. The Makuta were meant to be their defenders, not tormentors. Why had they been so... so evil? All of them had seen or met Makuta in the past, and they had always been good and kind. It made them wonder, briefly, if it had just been a dream.

The Toa murmured something to Ereyin and walk back along the boat to the others. "None of you must speak of what just happened," he told them. "Do you understand?"

"But why?" Cratix asked. "We can't let the Makuta do this! It's evil!"

"And who would believe you?" Harran replied. "Others would think you crazy, and it would only draw the ire of the Makuta if they are, indeed, evil. This is a secret you must keep to yourselves. I will investigate on my own, but you must return to your village and continue your work."

Satris looked down at his feet, them up at the Toa. "But we have to do what's right," he said after a moment, almost too softly for the others to hear. Harran looked at him and, with a sigh, nodded. "Yes," he agreed. "But it is my duty to keep all of you safe. I must let this pass, as I cannot hope to protect you if I do not."

Something in the Toa's expression worried the ta-matoran, but rather than reply the Toa returned to the helm of the ship to continue guiding Ereyin. The rest of the trip was silent; their boat swayed along with the waves. A day passed; then two. At the end of the second day they became aware of a large landmass ahead of them. Toa Harran guided the vessel to shore as the Matoran slept.

In the morning, Harran told them to cross the Southern continent and find a way back home. "I have to return to my own land," he said after a short discussion. "And you must return to your homes. The Makuta did not keep you long enough to remember your identities. Even so, you must be careful. Keep your heads down."

"And if we can't?" asked Satris, feeling more and more irritated at the thought of being powerless.

"If you can't," Harran said, "Then I entrust you with these."

From behind his back, he extended a hand holding four stones; each seemed to glow very faintly. The matoran's mouths opened; they'd all heard of Toa stones, but had never seen one in the flesh. Cratix was the first to reach for one; he looked at it carefully, analyzed it. "How do we know they will work?" he asked Harran, who let out a small, ignorant shrug. "You don't," he said truthfully. "But from what you managed, I have a feeling you are all destined for greatness. Remain united, and let the great Spirit guide you."

Satris as next to reach for a stone. Cratix had grabbed one seemingly haphazardly, but as the Ta-matoran reached, he found himself drawn to one in particular of the remaining three, and took it with confidence he did not feel elsewise. Miyaji followed, then Ereyin. When they all had a stone, the Toa warned them to keep them close, and keep them safe; then they parted ways. He pointed them in the direction of the north while he opted for another path, and soon enough they were once again on their own.

They spent much of the day stripping possible tools from the boat, and then made off a little before nightfall. They considered stopping in the dark, but didn't dare remaining too close to the ship for so long. That, along with the fact that they were well-rested after the last stretch of the trip, pushed them onwards in their travel north.

* * *

Satris rose to his feet and walked to the front of the transport, grabbing hold of a handle on the roof to stabilize himself. Cratix was alone in the cabin; Miya remained in the back, looking faintly troubled.

As the Toa of fire sat down, his friend looked to the right and grinned again. "Brother!" he claimed, giving the other Toa a friendly shove on the shoulder. "Good thing you're awake. We're almost there."

The Great Spirit Robot was discernible in the distance, looking like a massive mountain chain. They'd make it in a matter of hours, now. Satris sighed and looked towards his old friend. "Be honest with me, Cratix," he said after a moment. "How badly is this reunion going to go?"

Cratix' smile shattered the moment his friend spoke, replaced with a tense grimace. "Well," he said after a moment. "They won't kill you, at least."

Satris let off a huff of laughter at that. "I'm surprised you managed to convince them of that much."

"It took me three weeks," the Toa of iron replied. "And Graven is still furious that you're being included, mind you. If it weren't for Ereyin and Malzi being reasonable, you might be walking into a deathtrap. Decrurin is pouting, though he won't say it."

Satris let out a slow sigh and looked out of the window. "Oh well," he said. "Better than I was expecting. At least no one has to die."

Cratix didn't seem to find the joke funny; he grimaced and pushed the transport to go faster. The conversation lulled there, and remained quiet as the old Matoran Universe grew larger and larger. Even from afar, once could see so many workers making an effort to break it down, but they'd barely scratched the surface. It would take an army of Toa and others to do it - an army that, after the war, no longer existed. Satris looked down at his hands, wondering when it would be his turn, at last, to make a Toa stone. Soon, he imagined. If he survived this, anyway.

The time passed slowly, but surely, and after a few hours had passed they pulled up to an encampment a ways away from the robot. Well, encampment wasn't truly a suitable word. Buildings had been set up, utilizing what materials had been salvaged thus far. It looked more like a small city than a camp. Cratix drove the transport through the streets, moving towards a building on the edge closest to the robot. There it stopped, and the three Toa jumped out to the ground; Satris after collecting his packs.

Cratix lead the way in, and the inside was much as Satris had expected. It was covered in bits and pieces of inventions, pods, tables, and other such things. Shelves held various kinds of gear, all of which appeared to be made for the expedition. The next room held masks aplenty, and a number of cases to store them all in- though the Toa of fire had no doubt that the selection would be greatly minimized for efficiency.

They went up a set of stairs to find more gear set in packs, and then at last entered a room populated by several other Toa. As Cratix and Miyaji walked forward to set down their things, Satris stopped the moment the tallest of the group, an unusually massive Toa of Gravity, looked at him and glared. "Look who came," he said after a moment, standing up from where he sat. Looking around him, a Toa of the Green looked and offered Satris a brief nod before walking forward - both to greet him and stop the lummox from launching himself at him. "Satris," she said courteously, though her gaze was clouded. "So they found you after all."

"They did," he replied. "I hear it took some convincing on your end."

Ereyin offered him a terse smile. "For most of us, yes. Some differences are difficult to overcome." Her gaze, as she spoke, grew accusatory, and he accepted this with a faint nod. "If we want to succeed in this mission, we'll have to," he told her, and she nodded in agreement.

Cratix walked back into the room, followed by a Toa of water and a Toa of Ice; the former seemed calm and almost pleased, while the latter seemed cold and aloof. _Just like old times_ , Satris thought as he nodded in greeting. "So," he then said, now that they were all gathered. "Now that we're all here, what exactly is the plan?"

Cratix motioned for them all to move to a table in the center of the room; on it he placed a map and began to draw onto it. "We'll enter the robot from the primary exit that was used in the foot," he said. "This should bring us to the southernmost part of the southern island chain. From there, we'll navigate our way to the northern continent. The environmental regulation functions are scrapped, so we don't actually know what we'll be facing. We need to bring air canisters and recyclers, and a bunch of gear seeing as we can't afford to keep changing kanohi unless we have to. We'll go in using a transport based off of a rahi the Mahri team once encountered, a kind of crawler.

"The biggest risk," he continued, "is the gravity. The inner domes were damaged, and with the gravity now being aligned with Spherus Magna, it's possible that the continents will be on the ceiling. If that's the case, well… We'll have to find a way to climb through. There likely won't be any light save for whatever lightstones we find and what we bring with us, so we'll need to adapt to that, as well. Thankfully, we'll still have access to our abilities and, when we enter, there's a chance our suvas will still be active. If they aren't, however…" he motioned to the floor below. "We'll need to pick and choose. No more than a handful of kanohi each. Five or six, maybe. Kadin and Kaukau are being designated as essentials, while Ruru are being set as priority for others. After that, you get two each, not including your normal mask."

They all nodded, though all of them knew five masks was a pittance compared to what they normally could use. They would be very limited indeed, although…

Cratix interrupted their thoughts as he went on. "Even so, we'll be able to take the gear below. Everyone brings their own Toa tools, as well. We'll have visors with a number of functions, communication tools, air filters and canisters, and any essentials. It won't be easy," he told them, "But once we reorient our maps with what we discover inside, we should be able to maneuver our way through."

"What about food and water?" asked Graven after a moment, to which Cratix simply pointed to Ereyin and Malzi. "Our resources will be limited," he explained. "We'll have to depend on our own abilities to gain most of our food, or hunt fish and some Rahi, assuming we find anything edible. We'll bring some food, but the utter minimum we can afford to take. We need to pack light."

Satris nodded, then, and looked to Cratix. "When do we leave?" he asked his fellow Toa, who looked at them all in turn. "Tomorrow," he said. "The sooner we begin, the sooner we'll be done."

Decrurin, who'd been silent up until that point, rose to his feet. "We should discuss who will lead the expedition," he said, fixing a cold stare on Satris. "Seeing as our group no longer has a leader," he added as a subtle jab. Satris accepted it, and nodded in agreement.

"Cratix should lead," he countered, pointing to his old friend. The Toa of Iron opened his mouth and shook his head as if to disagree, but Miyaji had already nodded in agreement. Ereyin, Graven and Malzi all followed suit, as did Decrurin a moment later. Defeated by the vote, Cratix flashed a pleading look towards Satris, and then slowly bowed his head. "Seems that's decided," he conceded after a moment. Then he rose to his feet. "We should gather any equipment and kanohi we need right away. Better to be prepared, right?"

* * *

The trek through the Southern Continent was a surprisingly peaceful one. The woods they'd entered early on had little in the way of large Rahi, and nothing had come to attack them. The going was slow, as the four matoran had to regularly find a way around trees and large rocks and dense clusters of flora. Ereyin, more comfortable in such a setting than her companions, made an effort to guide them through the worst of it.

As a result, they had slept a handful of times in the forest throughout the last several days, taking turns at standing guard in case there _were_ large Rahi out there, looking for a meal. Thus far they'd remained unbothered, which was all the better as they didn't actually have any tools or weapons to fight off any Rahi that actually did show up. The closest they had was a large stick that Miyaji had taken to carrying, which helped her push aside branches and jump over rocks and roots on the surface. The Southern continent wasn't very occupied compared to their homes, and so they wondered how long it would take for them to find a village.

The days went by in silence, as none of them wished to discuss what had happened in the Makuta fortress. In a week, their lives had been changed forever; they didn't know what to do. Harran's words echoed in their minds: they had to return to their homes and keep their heads down. It would not be an easy journey, but once they returned to the Northern continent it would likely be only a matter of weeks before they were able to find another ship and resume their business. As the thought dawned on them, they felt anxious. Did they truly want to risk the same events happening again, and their being rediscovered?

Any such thought were pulled aside more than a week into their journey. After days of near-total silence, they heard a roar. Thinking it must have been rahi out in the distance, they continued onwards - at least, until they heard another roar that was much, much closer. With wide-eyed stares, they began to run through the trees, hoping that the rahi would pass by them. Instead, the next roar was even closer, and hearing it caused Satris to look back. In doing so, he missed a root jutting out from the ground and tripped, falling down with a grunt. He struggled to get back to his feet, but by then Ereyin had turned back and grabbed his hand, pulling him onwards.

It was then that Satris caught sight of the creature, and let out a yell as he saw the giant cat running at them through the trees. "Burnak!"

The cry had the effect of making Ereyin run faster to catch up to Cratix and Miya, who'd begun climbing a tree to mixed results. The latter, having better luck at reaching a thick branch a dozen or so feet off of the ground, reached out to help pull Cratix up. Ereyin helped Satris get a foot up before she climbed up herself; in moments she'd reached Miyaji and helped her pull Cratix up to them. They let out cries of worried encouragement as Satris made his way up to them slowly. He'd managed to get one hand on the branch when the burnak reached them, and leapt at the ta-matoran. It almost missed him, but one of its claws snagged his foot; he fell down in a crash of limbs.

Growling, the tiger began to slink towards him, ignoring the shouting coming from Miyaji above to try and scare it away.

"Get back, you stupid Rahi!" she shouted. "I'll beat you!"

Satris crawled back towards the tree as best as he could until his back was set against it. His eyes met those of the Burnak and he knew, then, that this was where he would die. Saliva dripped from its jaws as it came closer. And closer. He could smell its breath and closed his eyes-

There was a yelp, followed by another, and then a series of soft thumps as the Burnak ran away. Satris opened his eyes as another matoran in brown armor appeared from within the trees, looking oddly small and slightly misshapen. "What are all of you doing out here?" he asked as he approached Satris and extended a hand. "Don't you know there are Burnak around here?"

The Ta-matoran took the offered hand that pulled him to his feet, too relieved to say anything. Ereyin slid down the trunk of the tree and walked up to them both. "No," he replied to their sudden savior, who was busy setting a bow onto his back. "We're, well - we're lost."

"Lost, huh?" the Po-matoran said. "Well, if you need, I can help you find your way. Name's Kotoda. I like to wander around here and there. Where are you guys headed?"

Satris, having finally caught his breath, spoke up. "We're going to the Northern shore," he said. "Our boat sunk, and we drifted to the south of the continent." He was surprised by how easily the lie left him.

"Northern shore, huh?" Kotoda asked. "Well, that's a trek, but we should make it in a couple of weeks. We need to steer clear of Mount Valmai, but other than that it should be smooth as a ground stone. Alright," he added, beginning to walk through the trees and motioning for them all to follow. "Come with me. We'll get there."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The town was bustling as the five matoran made their way in. Kotoda had been more than a helpful guide - a little eccentric, perhaps, but nonetheless. He'd helped them through the various regions of the continent, keeping them far away from Mount Valmai. "Bad things there," he'd said one night when they'd asked him why. "Steer clear."

Their journey had taken them a little longer because of their particular route, but in a little over two weeks they'd managed to reach the southern shore. Over the course of their journey they'd had to face off a number of Rahi - mostly Burnak and acid flies, though an encounter with a Lava Ape had left them all catching their breath. It had, like or not, brought them all a little closer. Their first nights with Kotoda had been quiet and filled with little talk, but as the days went on they began opening up to their new friend, with all his little quirks. In turn, he soon opened up to them.

Now that they were facing their destination, having followed the border of the continent for the past two days, the matoran were both elated to be almost home and felt a small amount of sorrow at the thought of leaving their new friend. He, however, did not seem to share their thoughts. With his smaller stride, he marched on strongly into town. He'd promised them partway through to introduce them to a fisherman friend of his, and was guiding them through the town. It was quite small compared to what they knew from the Northern continent, a number of houses that more closely resembled hutts than buildings. Within mingled a mix of matoran that were normally sized and others that were oddly smaller, not unlike Kotoda.

As they entered it properly, the latter turned around and grinned at them, moving his arms wide. "Welcome to Mahri-Koro," he said. "Not named very originally, I know, but if you need a ship back to the northern continent, this is your best bet. Come on, Nayua is in the center."

As the escaped foursome looked around the town, following the po-matoran, he waved about at a number of the villagers that called out in greeting, though his legs never stopped in their energetic stride. The closer they grew to their goal, the more determined he seemed to become. He was almost running by the time they reached a hutt next to a pier that reached out to a boat further on the water. Kotoda knocked once, then twice, and pushed the door open; a voice called out from within. "Yes? Oh, Kotoda, I wasn't expecting to see you for another month."

He seemed to smile from what Satris saw, motioning to the other four matoran to come closer. "I ran into some travelers," he said with a bright smile. "They could use your help, Nayua. They're from the North, and they don't have a way to get back.

Nayua chose that time to peek her head out the door - unlike Kotoda, she was normally sized, a Ga-matoran. "Travelers?" she asked, seeming excited. "Come in, come in! It's not every day that I get to meet strangers."

Satris walked in first, followed by Miyaji, Cratix, and Ereyin. The hutt was oddly spacious inside; Nayua bid them all to sit down around a table and Kotoda joined them once he'd closed the door and set down his bow.

Nayua looked over them all quickly, her eyes alight, intelligent, and curious enough for the six of them. "Stranded, all of you?" she asked after a moment, seeming sympathetic. "What happened?"

"Our ship capsized after a storm," Satris explained, taking the lead after a moment of group hesitation. "We managed to hold onto the wreckage and drift our way to land, but we don't have a way back. We lost our shipment, too. And…" He looked down. They wouldn't forget their friend that hadn't made it through the storm. And they couldn't tell anyone about the Makuta. How easy it was to lie, he realized.

Nayua leaned forward and took the Ta-matoran's hand in an effort to comfort him. "I'm sorry," she said to them all after a moment. "But if you need a ride back, I can help. I've never been lost at sea even once - I may never have been to the Northern Continent, but I'm certain I can get you back if you know the way."

Cratix smiled faintly at that. "We're traders," he said after a moment. "If we didn't know how to get to and from the Continent, we'd be doing a poor job."

Miyaji smacked him lightly on the arm. "You could lose your way through a straight road," she teased. "Especially when you're working on something, _ghost_." Cratiz let off a small smile at the teasing, though he didn't react to the little jab about his homeland. "Well," he replied, "I _am_ able to navigate just fine, thank you. I've memorized the routes, too."

Miya huffed, but looked to Nayua and shrugged. "He's got me there. Good memory, our ghost," she said with a smile. "All of us know the course, and if you have a map we can even show you. It's not too long - a few days of sailing at the most."

Nayua's eyes glowed at the thought of adventure. She leaned in further over the table at every word, her hands pressing harder against the wooden table. "I'll take you," she said after a moment's silence. "But my boat isn't made for long-distance travel. It will need some work."

Cratix looked to Satris, who looked right back. They smiled and together looked at Nayua. "We can manage that," replied the Ta-matoran.

* * *

It was taking an unusual amount of time for them to sift through the kanohi that Cratix had gathered. As methodical as ever, the Toa of iron had organized every mask he'd been given together, powerless, great and noble. Even so, there were many - and they did not all know what to take. Oh, certainly, they had each taken a Kaukau and a Kadin, but that left many options. Though they'd spoken of taking Ruru as a third slot, they'd soon realized as they sifted through that Arthrons would function just as well, if not better. In the end, they'd opted to mix and match.

This was why Satris stood with a Kaukau, a Kadin, and an Arthron in a small sack hanging from his shoulder, piecing through the various masks available. Picking up a Calix, he considered it for a moment before shaking his head and setting it back down. He was about to move on before he reconsidered; he picked it up and walked over to Ereyin, silently holding it out to her. She looked at him warily for a moment before taking the mask, appearing to think it over, and then nodding; it vanished into her pack alongside her other masks. She went back to her search, as did he.

Walking along another aisle, he passed Miyaji once again - they'd made a back and forth a number of times thus far as they tried to settle on a mask. Eventually he picked up a Pakari and moved out of the aisle. "Graven," he called out to the larger Toa a moment before he threw the mask over to him; Graven caught it, glared at him furiously, but nonetheless put the mask in his pack. Being far stronger and larger than the others already, making him a proverbial monster if they needed it couldn't hurt.

"Satris," called out another voice; Malzi tossed him a mask from across the room, and he caught it with the same practiced ease the others had; a mask of intangibility lay in his hand. A faint smile grew on his face and he nodded thankfully before looking out to search for what would be his last mask until they found their suvas. After looking through the repertoire, he decided on one that he knew would put him on thinner ice than he already was, but that would undoubtedly be extremely useful during the mission. Setting it in his pack, he moved back to the meeting room so they could discuss their choices.

Ereyin and Graven were there already, as was Cratix. Decrurin followed a minute after Satris; Miyaji came next, and last was Malzi. Once they were all gathered, they opened their packs and set the two free masks they'd picked onto the table. Graven had kept the Pakari and had chosen a Komau; Ereyin the Calix and a Faxon to boot. Cratix had taken a Mask of Adaptation and a Mask of Biomechanics; Miyaji a Matatu and a Garai ; Decrurin a Mahiki and a Sanok, and Malzi a Volitak and an Iden. Satris was the last to reveal his masks; he set the Mask of Intangibility down, and then pulled out the second.

He hadn't even set it down by the time Graven had slammed a fist into the table. " _What_ are you thinking?" he spat through gritted teeth. "You would bring more shame on us?"

Satris sighed and pressed a hand to the Jutlin; the others all seemed uneasy, though none were as vocal as Graven. Cratix alone seemed thoughtful; approving, even. "It's not a bad idea," the toa of iron said to the others of the team.

"What?" Graven replied. "Do you know what that mask is? Who wore it?"

Satris sighed and spoke up. "Antroz died in the Core," he said. "Besides which, it affects only inorganic matter. If we come across any cave-ins or barriers that we don't want to waste energy on, it will be useful for tunneling through them."

Cratix nodded and smiled. "See?" he said to the others. "I don't know what you're all worried about. It's sound logic - actually, I wish I'd thought about it. With that and the Onweku, he'll make the perfect scout in dense areas."

Graven clearly wanted to say more, but Ereyin leaned in and murmured something in his ear. Satris didn't know what it was, but it was enough to pacify the Toa of gravity. He grunted, but crossed his arms. Cratix looked around, keeping a brittle smile up. "That's settled, then," he said. "We should all rest. Tomorrow we collect our gear and gather supplies, load ourselves onto the crawler, and make our way into the robot. Maybe that will give us the occasion to cool our heads."

They all muttered agreements and set their kanohi back into their packs; Ereyin and Graven left first, then Decrurin, Malzi and Miyaji. Satris remained, as did Cratix; the latter walked over to his brother and set a hand on his shoulder. "It will get better," he said carefully. "They just need time."

"They've had time," Satris pointed out as he walked towards the exit; Cratix followed. "They're not going to accept me like they used to, Cratix," he added as they left the building and walked through the streets of the growing city. "It's time to accept that as a fact. I am an outcast by my nature, by my actions - when this is over, I will return to my wanderings."

Cratix sighed, and then stopped mid-step. He looked to Satris and grinned, then. "When's the last time we had fun?" he asked him.

"What?" asked the Toa of fire, put off by the sudden shift in conversation. "Fun? We're preparing to enter a hostile environment and undergo a journey that could take us months, and you're asking about fun?"

"Yes," Cratix replied, beaming.

"Seventy thousand years ago, I suppose," Satris replied with a shrug. "Our lives haven't exactly been peaceful."

"I know, I know,"Cratix said, grabbing Satris' arm and pulling him through the streets. "But this is the perfect occasion, isn't it?" he pointed out. "Nothing to lose. Come on."

* * *

"Satris?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll have fun again, sometimes? When we get back, I mean."

Satris and Cratix were in the center of Nayua's boat, working on a number of planned modifications to help the fishing vessel act as a transport back to the northern continent. It was slow going - it had been several days of work already, with Miyaji coming to help them now and again, though she helped Nayua and Ereyin gather supplies in between bouts of planning their route on various maps. The going was slow, as many things on the boat needed changing - the motor and propellers, sails, and the hull needed to be reinforced so they could be certain it would withstand any storms. The last thing they wanted was for another ship to capsize.

"I don't know," Satris said as he set down his welding torch. "Maybe. Maybe not. I haven't really thought about it."

"I think the first thing I'd like to do when we get back is play Kolhii," he said. "Or maybe Akilini. Or maybe work in my workshop for a few weeks."

Satris smiled fondly at his friend as he set his welding torch back down to keep working on the structural reinforcement. "Sure," he replied. "We'll do that."

"What about you?" asked Cratix, continuing his work on the motor even as he looked over to his friend. "Is there anything you want to do?"

Satris paused, his grip on the welding torch tightening. "I don't know," he replied before getting back to his work. His entire world had been flipped upside-down when their ship had capsized. He didn't know what to think. The Makuta were evil, he had a toa stone, and they were trapped on the southern continent. He wasn't sure he could find anything fun anymore. "Maybe keep crafting things again. I'm not sure I'll want to leave the continent for a while. Not to go south, anyway."

Cratix was silent for a few minutes before responding. "Me either," he said softly. "I think I want to stay on the Northern Continent forever. After this, I'm not sure I want to see a boat ever again."

Satris let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah. Let this be a last time we get near water."

"But we could keep trading, you know?" Cratix said after a moment. "There are lots of places to go in the continent. We could even try going to Metru Nui, sometime. By airship."

"Yeah, maybe," Satris said with a fond smile. "But let's keep to the continent for a little while. I'd be worried about-" He cut off, unable to finish his sentence. When he looked up, Cratix was staring at him with a look of pure understanding. They nodded to each other and went back to work, staying silent for the next few hours.

They made good progress through the day, as the sun rose high in the sky and came back down. It was evening by the time Miyaji came to get them; Kotoda had prepared food again and the others were waiting on them. Leaving the ship, the three of them walked down the pier together in a somewhat companionable silence. Cratix looked at her, then, and canted his head. "Miya?" he asked her as they were partway down.

"Yes?" she replied immediately, turning over to look at him with curious eyes. "What's up?"

"What do you want to do when we get back?" Cratix asked her, much as he had Satris some hours earlier. If the Ta-matoran had to guess, he was trying to distract himself from the worry that they might not get back, and from everything that had happened.

"Nothing," she replied. "A whole lot of nothing. Sitting around for a few weeks, I think. I'm done with adventuring for the moment. Maybe some farming for a few months before I even think of looking at a transport again."

Satris and Cratix burst into giggles when she was done; she raise her brow as though they were both lunatics. "What?" she asked them, a hand on her hip. "What did I say?"

The two others simply shook their heads, clutching their sides as they gasped for breath. Perhaps they looked silly, or she'd just come to terms with the absurdity of their entire situation, but a moment later she was clutching her sides next to them as they laughed like lunatics. It took them a few minutes to regain control of themselves, after which they got up shakily and made their way to the meal, all leaning on each other lest they fall into another fit of giggles. When they made it, Ereyin and Nayua were deep in an almost excited discussion. Kotoda, on the other hand, had torn through his food and looked at them. "You're late!" he exclaimed good-naturedly. "What happened to you three?"

Fe-, Vo- and Ta-matoran looked at each other and then at the rest of the group and burst into another fit of helpless giggles which spread through the group. It was helpless; whenever they would slow down something else would trigger them, and they would all keep laughing at everything and yet at nothing at all. The food was cold by the time they got to actually eating, but they all felt a little better, and sleep came easy for them that night.

* * *

"Ya!" Cratix yelled as he threw the kanoka disk at one of Satris' hoops. The toa of fire grinned and leapt up, stopping the disk mere inches from the hoop's entrance with his foot. In an exceptional display of acrobatics, he caught the falling disk with his hand, twirled and launched it to one of Cratix's hoops in retaliation before falling light on his own two feet. And a good thing, too, as the kanoka was already flying back; he once again caught it, spun, and fired it back with a backhanded throw.

They'd been playing for several hours, now, and were at a complete impasse - neither was able to score against the other. They complimented each other too well. Though they'd agreed on some rules before, as the disk flew back and forth between them at high speeds, twirling and twisting around the canyon they'd turned into a mock arena, Satris had an idea. Catching the disk, he dropped to a knee and fired a rhotuka spinner from his back even as he threw the Kanoka; cratix, faced with two projectiles coming at once, was forced to dodge - the spinner hit slightly above his hoop and projected dark web-like tendrils that latched onto the other hoops, while the kanoka flew clean through the hoop and hit the rock wall. Cratix flew to his feet and tossed a rock at him, laughing. "Cheater!" he called back.

Satris grinned despite himself. "We were getting nowhere!" he called back. "Why not make things a little more interesting?"

"Interesting, huh?" Cratix replied as he narrowed his eyes. Instantly, Satris regretted his decision - and with good reason. Cratix raised his hands and, using his elemental abilities, began generating and firing out dozens of kanoka at once. Faced with a sudden onslaught, the toa of fire had no choice but to move - catch, spin, whirl, throw, kick, headbutt. It was too much, however, and a number went through his goalposts - by which point he'd chosen to retaliate in kind. Any kanoka he could hit was launched back at great speed as he used his flames to create a small explosion upon launching them; any more thrown back were melted if he couldn't stop them. And for good measure, he began firing rhotuka spinners as often as possible - a measure that Cratix began to imitate. It was quick, it was exhausting, but just as they had been before, each using their powers equally brought them to another impasse. Cratix could control and generate kanohi as he wished, but Satris was just as effective and blocking them or incinerating them midair. And all the while they had to dodge the other's rhotuka or face their immediate loss.

Minutes later they stood on either side of the arena, panting. Cratix had gotten more goals, undeniably, but without sharing his abilities Satris had almost managed to get just as much before the game had undeniably stalled. They started laughing uncontrollably, and Cratix looked to his brother with a grin. "Do you- do you remember, back when?" he asked.

Satris grinned and nodded in return. "I remember. Who would have thought we would ever be this good?" The response elicited another laugh from Cratix, who let himself collapse to the ground and look up at the stars. Satris made his way over and collapsed next to them; looking over at each other, they each held up a fist and slammed them together. "Or that we would take this long to do it," he added thoughtfully.

"Well, technically we still haven't," Cratix pointed out. "I mean, one-man teams don't count, remember? Needs to be at least two."

"True," Satris agreed. "True. But it was a good match anyway." They remained in silence for a few minutes, but it was the Toa of fire who rose first. "Come on," he said, extending a hand to his friend. "We should get back and sleep. Who knows how much rest we'll get when we're back to work."

Cratix nodded and took the hand; leaning on each other, they made their way back to the city.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Air pressure is normal. All systems functional. Filters operating at optimal conditions. How's the power source output?"

"Power source is functioning just fine. Mechanical systems are all green. We're ready to move."

The team of Toa sat in the cabin of the transport as they listened to Cratix and Miyaji talk back and forth about various systems. The vehicle had been meticulously looked over, but they wanted to be absolutely sure they would face no problems. Once they were inside the robot, return would be difficult, and they couldn't afford for their primary transport to break down. The morning had gone by quickly - they'd gathered their things and said their goodbyes to the matoran who'd helped them prepare this mission, and set themselves up in the transport. Satris had been surprised to see Kotoda of all people helping with the finishing touches - he hadn't seen the Po-Matoran in thousands of years. It had been an almost touching reunion, before Satris was called back to the transport and had to set in.

The transport was a giant crawler of a thing, sealed off from the world beyond unless one were to pass through a specialized airlock. They sat and waited, strapped in to their seats, as the dozen legs of the crawler began moving and they wandered into the entrance. Satris saw Miyaji wave one last time as they entered the robot, and the light of the sun turned to darkness in an instant. All the lightstones in the robot had winked out when the power core had been destroyed; the matoran universe was shrouded in perpetual darkness forever more. Until they managed to deconstruct it for materials and broke through the domes, anyway.

Or at least, it was until they activated the focused lightstones mounted onto the crawler; the tunnel was illuminated brightly by the lightstones set into the crawler. It outlined the smooth protodermis of the tunnel as the crawler moved along, protodermis that would soon become rough, jagged and unkempt as they grew closer to the first dome they would be travelling through. They were silent, watching the interfaces of the various consoles as Cratix and Miyaji piloted and monitored the crawler's systems. The silence extended further - the way the crawler was sealed off meant they could not hear it save for a dull rumble, and even the power plant was only a faint hum in the distance.

"What do you think we'll find?" Malzi asked him. Of all the Toa in the team, he understood her the least. She'd been with them for the least amount of time - a mere two thousand years - and yet she showed the least judgement towards him after Cratix. Even so, she spoke softly. "I don't know," he murmured back. "A cold wasteland, darkness that would make a Makuta's day, and ravaged cities, I suspect," he told her. "I just wonder how much of it held up."

"Well, aren't you grim," she countered as she looked back out the front viewport. Silence returned for several minutes before she spoke again. "Oceans in the sky," she hummed softly. "Or, rather, oceans on what was once the sky. I still can't imagine what it'll be like."

"The whole universe is upside-down. Of course it's hard to imagine," he told her with a faint smile. "What really matters is if we'll even be able to navigate cities anymore. Can you imagine entering Metru Nui, hanging from the ceiling?"

She let out a small laugh at that. "If it even held up, you mean," she retorted. "All that protodermis made to withstand normal gravity, would it even hold up to being on its side? Would the desert leak out into the ocean below?"

"I guess we'll find out someday," he mused. "I don't know if we're even going that far. Cratix may have found an exit for us closer to the northern continent."

"True. We'll have to take the long road, I suppose."

"That or follow through with these kinds of expeditions again," he said as he leaned back in his seat. The console nearest to him showed almost nothing - functional systems and, if he changed his target around, tunnel and more tunnel. Although the tunnel seemed to be growing wider as they moved on, a large black hole at the end growing bigger. His eyes widened as he came to a realisation - it wasn't growing bigger, it was growing closer.

Almost on cue, Cratx spoke up. "We're nearing the southernmost dome of the right leg," he told them, his voice booming in the near-total silence that had nestled into the cabin. "Slowing down the walker. Entering in three… two… one."

They heard a faint scratching sound as the legs slowed their movement and dug into the protodermis forming the tunnel; seven pairs of eyes looked out of the viewport and saw… nothing. Black, and more black. The lightstones may as well not have been there; there was nothing to be seen. At least not from the viewport; the angle was too narrow.

Cratix rose from his seat and walked to the back of the cabin. "I didn't think we'd need to, but it's time for us to get out," he told them. "We need to do some basic scouting. Miya - you stay on the console, keep us updated on the sensors. Graven, Satris, you're with me. Everyone else, stay on the consoles and be ready to move if we need you."

Satris rose to his feet and moved towards the back of the cabin; the door opened and he moved into the first bay within the transport, which held cabins for them to rest in. He kept his eyes fixed on the next door, avoiding looking at the endless glare Graven likely had fixed on the back of his head. Cratix moved past him into the second bay, where their gear had been set up. Satris opened his mask bay to pull out his Arthron and quick set it on his face; Graven did the same with a Ruru. Cratix, in turn, put on his mask of sensory aptitude, and then quickly put on his gear. On top of the lower part his mask went a specially sealed breather attached by reinforced tubes to an air filter set on his back. Then came a mounted fixture for a focused lightstone and a visor that would amplify the light. Lastly was a harness that could fire several grappling lines to stop them from falling into the abyss. They had thruster packs, as well, but had decided to use them once they were a ways further, rather than run the risk of wasting it.

By the time Cratix was done gathering his toa tool, Graven and Satris were mostly done. Within a few minutes they moved to the airlock, the latter two utterly silent. "What do the readings say, Miya?" asked Cratix as he readied to open the airlock.

" _Nothing surprising_ ," she called over the comms system. " _Air is too stale to breathe, but the recyclers will do their job. The dome is too massive to get much else. I think there's a landmass, but it's near the roof and very, very far._ "

"Thanks, Miya," the Toa of iron said as he nodded to the two others and opened the airlock. There was a hissing sound as the pressure in the dome and the walker balanced out, and then they stepped outside.

The tunnel was still there and solid, but as they moved towards the front of the walker they saw it ended in a sheer drop. The walker's lightstones shone onto nothing; the protodermis climbed up for several kio, and appeared to drop down just as much - or so they guessed, as they could see little else. Even when Graven activated his ruru, the blinding light only made it so far - when he looked down, however, Satris would have sworn he saw something reflective in the distance.

Not one for half-measures, the Toa of fire leaned out of the tunnel and fired a grappling line into the protodermis a few bio away. He yanked at the line to make sure it was solid, and then let himself swing out into the abyss. There wasn't a hand- or foothold to speak of, so he hung silently as he focused and activated his mask's power. Looking down, he saw little for several seconds; the wall went down for kio in an uneven pattern before stopping abruptly - some kind of blurry wall appeared there. Looking up gave a similar result; the wall rose for what seemed to be kio before flattening out - though this ceiling was stone, or seemed to be.

"Up looks like the way to go," he called out to the other two. "Long drop into water if we go down."

"So about as expected," Cratix said. "Alright. Let's get back inside and get moving."

* * *

Their goodbyes were brief. It had taken a little over two weeks to modify Nayua's ship for the trip and gather supplies, but at last they were ready to go. Kotoda offered them all a brief hug before standing at the edge of the dock to watch them set out.

The four travelers felt a pit in their stomach as the boat pulled away from the dock, but Nayua was quite simply bristling with excitement. She kept shifting in her seat as she guided the boat through the bay and then out into the open waters of the ocean, unawares of the atmosphere in the back of her vessel.

The modifications had been extensive - the ship had had a cabin added to the back and been enlarged slightly, and they'd greatly increased the power of the motors. It flew over the surface of the water as Nayua sped up, and slowly the others began to shift out of their sullen shapes. Ereyin moved to the back of the boat to keep an eye on the continent as they moved, while Miyaji consulted their maps and instruments to make sure they were moving along the right path. Cratix eventually moved to help her, leaving Satris to wander over to Nayua and seat himself next to her.

"So how long do the think it'll take?" she asked him after a few minutes of silence.

"Two or three days," he told her. "It's not a long way to the Tren Krom peninsula, and after that another half a day to get to our usual port town. We have a few friends that will be able to get you resources for the way back." He hesitated and then looked over to her. "Do you think you'll be okay for the way back?" he asked her. "It's not the same as following a coast to fish."

"I'll be fine," she said with a smile. "Well, having a navigator couldn't hurt, but I'm sure I'll be able to make my way back." Her eyes flicked over and she reached out to slap him lightly on the shoulder. "What makes you so worried?" she asked him.

"Storms," he told her. "Rahi. There are a lot of large ones that could knock a boat over or break it. When the waves get high that can also happen."

"I'm sorry," she told him after a moment's silence. "But we'll be fine, I promise. We Ga-matoran are always comfortable in water, you know. I could get us there with my eyes closed. Most likely."

The Ta-matoran let out a laugh at that little remark and sat back, his eyes scanning the waves and the horizon. "Why bring us back?" he asked her. "There must be other traders who go to your village now and then, so why risk it?"

"Adventure," she replied simply. "I've lived my whole life in that village - gathering, fishing, helping to build houses for any newcomers that wandered in. All my life I've wanted to set out - but this is the first time I've ever had that chance! A real chance to do something more with my life." Her eyes were bright, and she shifted in excitement as she spoke. "A real adventure, and hopefully not my last one."

"If you want to keep adventuring," he told her after some silence, "You'll need a better ship than this - or at least you'll need it to be upgraded more. And you'll want a crew. Trading is good business, and you travel all over."

"I'm hearing a 'but'."

"Just the ocean," he replied as he pointed around them - the calm silver waters, the sea spray. "And all the dangers they bring. I don't think you'd be wanting to use airships, after all," he added with a small crack of a smile.

She let out a laugh. "No, probably not. I like the ocean. Well, that and the idea of a fall from who knows what height isn't really inviting. I'll stick to staying on the same level as the waves, thanks," she proclaimed, turning the controls faintly to the side. "It's nice out here," she said after a few more minutes of companionable silence. "I never usually go this far out to fish. It's calm. Peaceful."

She motioned to the waves. "Feels like I could just let myself float out here for hours, even. As adventures go, I could do with more like this," she said, humming softly. "Even if it isn't always this nice."

Satris hummed noncommittally in reply. That was when Miya approached and knocked gently on the side of the cabin to let them know she was there. "You'll want to adjust course thataway," she said, pointing off towards a point on the horizon. "We're angled too far eastwards to reach the peninsula - but if we go that way we should pass it in two days. And let us know when you want to stretch your legs, Nayua," she said with a small smile. "We're all pretty decent sailors, so don't hesitate to let us know."

The ga-matoran smiled at them both. "Don't worry," she said. "I will. But it's only been what, an hour? I can do this for a good long while yet, don't you worry. I'll be able to get plenty of rest."

Seemingly reassured, Miya moved back to where Cratix hunched over the map, leaving them to sit in silence and listen to the boat whisking its way across the surf.

* * *

The walker's progress up the wall was slow, as Cratix was overly cautious about getting the feet of the walker well-planted into the protodermis before moving on. Due to the new angle, the floor of the walker had become the wall; to move up and down would require some level of acrobatics, and so they'd opted to remain seated in the cabin. So it was that they watched the sides of the dome grow closer, the new ceiling approaching step by step.

As they sat, Satris thought about what their trajectory would look like, exactly. A lot of climbing, flying as soon as they left the crawler. Most villages and cities would be in ruins, he suspected - there was no way for most of them to support themselves without gravity.

So many tools and items lost beneath the waves. So many signs of matora life spanning a hundred thousand years. Maybe they would be found when the deconstruction efforts were completed. Then again, maybe they would just remain food for Takea sharks - or whatever else was beneath those waves.

Something else was bothering him, and had for the past hour or so; in the near-dead silence of the transport, he spoke up. "Cratix," he called out, leaning forward. The walker's crawl slowed to a stop; it picked back up when Miya took control.

"What is it?" the Toa of Iron asked, leaning back.

"Mask of adaptation," was all the Toa of Fire stated, pointing into the near-void beyond the crawler. Cratix looked out, back in, out again, and then his eyes widened as he focused on Satris. He slammed a fist into the dash. "Mata nui!" he swore loudly. "You're right. I'm an idiot. I'm a complete idiot." He pressed a hand to his mask and sighed loudly.

"What are you two- oh. Oh, I see," Miya replied as she checked the next foot's grip strength and kept pushing the walker onwards. "Damn, we should have thought of that."

Graven and Ereyin both seemed to have understood; Malzi was the only one left that looked confused. "What?" she asked the cabin as a whole, clearly aware that she'd missed something. Miyaji was the one who replied, after a small, deprecatory laugh escaped her. "We pushed for Kaukau," she said. "As if all of this would be underwater. We needed masks of adaptation. Forget temporary water breathing, we need to be able to breathe stale air, or water, or whatever else comes our way as it comes our way," she said. "Damn."

"I don't suppose anyone brought kanoka?" Satris asked with a small laugh. Cratix looked back and grinned, wiggling his fingers. "Who needs Kanoka?" he asked. "Between the two of us we can make them out of just the protodermis."

Satris opened his mouth to retaliate, but closed it; his friend was right. They were both familiar with making Kanohi, and Cratix could supply them with the raw materials. Ideally this would only happen after they were in a less precarious position and orientation, but it _could_ be done. And it would kill time as they travelled along the dome, to boot. He hummed softly. "Once we reach the ceiling?" he asked.

"Once we reach the ceiling," Cratix agreed with a nod. "Miya, do you mind-"

"I'll drive, I'll drive," she replied with a gentle tap to his shoulder. "You just get us what we need."

"Later is when you'll drive," he said as he took the controls back - Satris knew he would be grinning still as he guided the crawler up. Now that the terrain was rougher, he started pushing it to go faster, little by little; the soft rumbles of the outside grew ever-so-slightly louder, and the stone in their view shifted; small crags and little crevices appeared as the terrain roughened. The cabin grew silent, anticipating what they might possibly see - if anything - in the skies above. Their waiting didn't seem to pay off at first. Above them was a now-faintly illuminated protodermis floor, with little else; small dead shells that remained incrusted into the stone and small pieces of sand stuck in cracks in the wall.

Satris was the first one to notice. He saw better in the dark than the others, and so the flicker of movement far above didn't escape him like it did them at first. "Up there!" he exclaimed almost in a whisper; in the utter silence of the cabin, he may as well have shouted.

The others' eyes didn't even flicker to him when he spoke. They all focused on trying to see what he saw. They efforts were in vain for several more minutes, before the scope on Cratix' mask saw it. "Great Spirit!" he exclaimed. "What was that? Looks like-"

"Winged Rahi," Satris stated with certainty. He could see them clearly now. "They don't look right, but they're winged rahi of some kind. How did they adapt to the air?"

"I don't know," Cratix said. "Ere, any thoughts?"

"None," she replied. "I don't know if anyone's encountered these kinds of rahi before. The southern island chains weren't exactly explored during the exodus - there's plenty we don't know. They might have some kind of Air powers that allow them to breathe?" she mused. "Honestly, I have no idea. We rushed when we came out, and who knows where these things were hiding to begin with. That would be my best guess - either that or they're accustomed to darkness and stale air. Perhaps they're cave-dwellers from deep below, who discovered a larger cave to remain in when the life support systems shut down..." She shrugged helplessly as they looked back to her. "How large are they?" she asked Satris, looking over to him again.

He squinted. "There's a few. At least two Bio," he told them all. "I think one must be… ten or twelve. Different kinds, too."

"Brother, if I had your eyesight," Cratix muttered, looking forward. "We'll just have to hope they're not hostile. They aren't attacking yet, in any case, but… Malzi, Szi, mind heading to the back, just in case?" he asked them. "Grav, be ready to stabilize us if they do."

There was a series of acknowledgements; before Cratix had finished speaking Szi was already clambering his way down. A foot here, a hand there; when he reached the doorframe he caught either side and slowly dropped down bit by bit. As Malzi followed, the Mask of Adaptation fell down past her; Satris' hand snapped out to catch it and set it in his pack.

The soft humm of the power source grew ever-so-slightly louder as they went down, but never more than a faint buzz. Their journey ended with them standing on the far wall of the airlock in silence, holding their tools. Satris kneeled down and began working on the console as he handed the mask of adaptation to Malzi. "Put this on," he told her; she swapped out her Arthron for it and held the latter in her free hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked him as the first chamber of the airlock sealed shut. "Opening the airlock to adapt us to the outer environment," he told her. He raised one hand a he took a deep breath and held it, counting down on his fingers. When his fist closed, the door to the airlock opened up, stale air gusting in to mix with and soon replace that within the transport. Malzi looked a little discomforted for a moment before the mask's power fired up. The change was subtle, but her eyes widened as she looked out of the door, and she took a few deep breaths. Then she leaned back, swapped masks again, and gave it to Satris; he repeated the process and put his Arthron back on as the mask was set securely in his pack.

"How in Mata Nui's name did you manage to see all this?" Malzi asked him as she looked out. He leaned out then as he took a deep breath; the rahi were all the clearer in his eyes, now; he could see far further than he'd expected. In the distance, on the ceiling of the chamber, he could see a landmass that he guessed had to be an island. He took another breath to reassure himself, and then looked straight up. It was a cloud of Rahi reaching all the way to the top of the chamber, far more than he'd ever expected. "Satris?" Malzi asked again when he didn't reply.

He flicked his eyes over to her. "What? Oh. I just see well in the dark," he told her. She appeared confused for the briefest of instants before understanding washed over her expression. "Oh," she said. "Right. I forget, sometimes. You don't look like it."

"I do," he replied with a sigh. "It's just been so long that no one asks anymore. Eighty thousand years is a long time," he told her wryly, trying to make light of it.

Seeming ready to change the conversation, she sat down on the floor. "You never told me that you used to be a mask maker," she said.

"I was," he replied as he sat on the edge of the transport; his legs dangled out below the knee. "For a few thousand years, back on… Well, back before we all started trading together. Then I moved on to tools and the like, and then Cratix and his inventions had me working on all these crazy ideas for a good while. I think I went back to masks, briefly, but that only lasted until we became Toa."

"Seventy thousand years," she said softly. "I can't imagine what it's like being a Toa for that long," she muttered. Despite himself, the Toa of Fire let out a small laugh. "Long," he told her. "And different. You see the Matoran all around you, and you can remember what it was like before, but you lose that innocence." His eyes turned to her and he smiled. "Though you've lost much of it too. You became a Toa at the wrong time, Malzi," he told her honestly. "The past two thousand years have been trying ones. Two and a half," he corrected with a small smile before she could.

"Maybe," she said. "But we keep pushing on anyway, regardless of what destiny throws our way."

"That we do," he agreed. "And now here we are, preparing to crawl along what used to be the ocean floor to find three separate Suva on three separate landmasses, with thousands of Kio to travel and weeks, if not months of time separating us from our goals," he said. "We must be mad."

"If we succeed, think of everything we could find," she pointed out. "More trips inside once we're ready for all of this. We're breaking new ground."

"Right," he said, looking up. The Rahi were getting closer, and he was certain that a few dropped to fly closer to the transport, but none of them attacked - perhaps it just wasn't interesting to them after all.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The ship pulled in to dock at the port at dawn, three days after they'd left the southern continent. To give credit where it was due, Nayua had managed to correct their course a number of times while they powered along through the waters of the silver sea. One of these was a small miscalculation that could have sent them rushing too far north to ever see the continent, after they'd drifted slightly one night.

As Satris stood at the prow, he could see a number of matoran already milling away at their tasks; boats were being prepared for voyages, sails and engines and pieces were being repaired or assembled. A handful of dockworkers moved over to help moore their boat, sending curious gazes to the unknown vessel. Satris recognized one or two and waved to them. "Shiko! Dathi!" he cried as the boat drifted in towards the dock. Shiko, a Ga-matoran with dark armor, stared at him with wide eyes before leaning over to Dathi and muttering something to him. He ran off as quickly as he could down the dock, while Shiko hurried to collect the ropes and helped tie the boat to the dock.

By then, Ereyin, Cratix, Miyaji and Nayua had all joined Satris at the front. Miya was the first off the boat, shrieking Shiko's name and rushing over to pull the ga-matoran into a hug. "Shiko! Oh, I'm so glad to see you again!" she cried, pulling her in tight before suddenly letting go, and motioning to Nayua. "This is Nayua. She helped us get back."

Shiko, thankfully enough, wasn't unused to Miya's energy; she reached out to shake Nayua's hand. "Nice to meet you," she said before turning to the others. "What happened? You were all supposed to be back over a month ago!"

"A storm broke out and capsized our ship," Satris said from his slightly more distant position. "It took us this long to get back - we drifted for a long time, then got lost on the southern continent. We've been sailing for the past few days."

Shiko looked them all over before an alarmed expression crossed her face. "Where's Korora?" she asked them after a moment. All four of the matoran froze, then. In the last few weeks of working on the ship, they'd stopped thinking about their lost friend as much. Their hesitation spoke for them, and Shiko's expression grew horrified. "Oh," she said softly. "Oh no. Korora..."

All of them grew silent. Despite the news, Shiko recovered fastest, taking a deep breath. "Well, you're all back," she said. "That's what matters. We need to break the news to the Turaga, and you can all rest up."

By then, other matoran had made their way to the docks and all but escorted them to the center of the village, speaking in sometimes hushed, sometimes excited tones as they caught up with what had happened. Others boarded the ship and moored it properly to run maintenance on it.

Satris watched them until the boat was out of sight, the words of those around him washing over him without registering. Only when Dathi returned and spoke did he shake out of his sudden daze. "What?" he asked, his eyes slowly focusing on the Le-matoran.

"I asked what happened to you? You look different, somehow."

Satris looked down at himself and then back to Dathi, offering only a small shrug. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe it just came from everything that happened during the trip."

Dathi still looked a little concerned, but the answer apparently told him all he wanted to know. He walked up to speak to Shiko, then moved on to Ereyin. Satris walked in the back of the crowd, looking back over himself. He didn't feel different. He didn't think he looked that different. Maybe… Maybe…

Whatever questions he was going to ask himself were cut short when they reached the village center; the Turaga was waiting for them to speak. "All of you, leave our adventurers be," he said with a faint smile. "They have faced many hardships, and I imagine they would like some time to cope. I am certain you will have the chance to catch up before they leave."

Most of the matoran left immediately, though a handful, such as Shiko and Dathi, left only when the Turaga waved them away. The five that were left were brought into the Turaga's hut, where he brought them to a table. "There. A little quiet does wonders, doesn't it?" he asked softly. As they sat, he did as well, a kindly expression on his face. "I know it's difficult, but tell me the story of what happened. It deserves to be remembered."

* * *

Satris carefully pulled back the firestaff in his hand from the mask. He waited three seconds, then pressed it down again, molding the protodermis further, ever-so-carefully. Once he finished this one, they would have a total of five masks of adaptation ready for use.

Once they'd reached the roof of the dome and begun their crossing, he'd started working tirelessly on making the masks. The first few days had been rife with frustrations as he got back into the habit of making them - from pure protodermis to boot - and Cratix had had to recycle several failed designs. Once he'd completed the first, things had gotten better. Even after so long, some of him still remembered, and he'd been making excellent progress.

Then the transport shook violently, and he swung his arm back and reached out to grab the unfinished mask to top it from flying off. Setting it down, he reached to the comm system and shouted into it. "Cratix? What was that?"

" _We can't see_ ," the toa of iron replied. " _I think something is latched onto the transport. I'm sending Miya and Graven to investigate!"_

"Try to stop the shaking - I'm almost done the fourth mask!"

" _You got it. I'm locking down the crawl- Mata nui!_ "

"Cratix?" Satris called as his friend went silent. "Cratix?"

He heard nothing for a few moments, before Cratix at last called back. " _Just finish that mask, Satris! We'll do what we have to!"_

A moment later, both Miyaji and Graven ran through the segment, through one door and out the other. Satris turned back to the mask once he felt the crawler shudder and rise for a moment, working as quickly as he could. Even so, he couldn't rush - his movements had to be quick and precise, focused. The crawler shook again, but the effect was greatly lessened compared to what it had been a moment ago - he kept working through it. Almost done. Almost done.

A muted cry reached him, and he was faintly aware of the doors opening and closing as Ereyin and Malzi streaked past. Almost there.

It shook again, and Satris heard another shriek - and that was it. The mask's shape was complete, as as he picked it up he could almost feel the power trapped within. He knew it would be wise to let it rest, but judging by what he heard they couldn't afford such a luxury. He waited for a moment, then pulled his Huna off and left it on the table before sliding the Mask of Adaptation on.

He rushed down the crawler then, towards the segment in which their gear was kept. Once there, it took him only a moment to collect his greatsword and shield, as well as a ranged communicator which he slid on beneath the mask, before slamming his fist into the airlock's release switch.

There was a hissing as the doors opened, a moment during which the toa's breath felt short before the mask changed him. Then he could see even more clearly in the darkness, and his breathing clear and easy. He could see the rahi all around, flying this way and that. Most appeared to be keeping their distance - or so he thought, when an arc of lighting flashed before his eyes. Deciding that was enough waiting, he leapt out of the crawler and began to fall.

It took the briefest of moments for the mask to begin working - by which point he'd spun in the air to see what was going on. His brother and sisters were fighting another of the beasts - it seemed they'd underestimated their size. This one had to be a thirty bio in length, a massive creature that seemed to be trying to slam into the crawler. Another, just slightly smaller, was facing against Ereyin and, seemingly, giving her trouble.

Then he stopped falling, as his body shifted and changed. His armor became smoother, sleeker, and jets formed on his back, arms and legs. His vision dimmed for the briefest moment as a visor formed over his eyes. He slipped around as he tried to regain his balance properly and, as the mask adapted him fully to this new environment, he flew rapidly forward towards the smaller of the two. As he grew closer, his armor thickened slightly - and he slammed into the smaller rahi like a battering ram, a loud crack emanating from it. It fell for a few moments before regaining control, trying to figure out what had happened. Satris heard a faint sound in his fears before the winged creature charged him, and he narrowly avoided it. "Cover me!" he shouted to Ereyin as an army of vines descended from the ceiling, trying to wrap around and smack into the creature.

It roared, flying up towards the ceiling to try and attack the vines, as Ereyin flew around below. Satris let himself fall a little more as he angled himself and began charging his rhotuka spinner. Ereyin continued to taunt the dragon with her vines - but he suddenly stopped showing such an interest in the vines and, suddenly, dive-bombed her from above. She moved, but not fast enough - her arm was caught in the beast's jaw, and she let out a cry of surprise.

The movement had surprised Satris, but he'd fought smarter, and faster, and stronger. As Ereyin began slashing at the creature's snout with her sword, he fired the spinner. It flew silently through the air and smashed into the creature's side. The tendrils shot out and began wrapping around it, snagging one of its wings and reducing how much it could move it. They kept slithering through for a moment before growing taught, and the rahi, deprived of half of its power of flight, let out a roar as it began to fall. As it roared, Ereyin managed to slip free and fly back up, offering Satris a nod as she reached him. "Thanks," she said before looking about to find the other Rahi, which had been pushed away by Malzi, Miya and Graven.

Together, the two of them went to help their fellows; from a distance, Satris began attacking it with beams of flame to match Miyaji's lighting bolts; as they grew closer, Ereyin joined in with a singular vine that she used to try and wrap around the rahi's wing. As they grew closer, Satris took advantage of his mask and began slashing at te creature with his sword, as did Ereyin and Graven. With all five of them together, the creature began having a rougher time of it. It could only defend itself so well, and clearly had not expected this kind of resistance. With another shriek that was cut short when a lightning bolt hit its neck, the creature dove away far below, where the small pests would no longer be able to hurt it.

Satris looked around - the rahi had suddenly begun leaving the crawler a wide berth. Ereyin was the first to remark it, though she had more to add. "They'll be coming back," she said. "This is new, and they'll be curious. We'll have to be more careful about more attacks - those two may brings friends next time."

"I suspect they will," Satris agreed. "That smaller one is going to be mad as soon as my spinner wears off. It almost caught something."

Graven looked at them both, then back to the transport, as if he didn't want to acknowledge Satris had even spoken. "We need to move faster than this crawler allows," he said. "Until we've at least reached the next island, we may not be safe."

"Let's talk about it when we get back inside," Miyaji said as she began flying to the still open airlock. " _Before_ anything else comes flying at us!" she shouted over her shoulder. They all followed - hurriedly Miya dropped most of her gear, save for her trident, and moved on towards the cabin, while the others followed a little more slowly. By the time the airlock had sealed, they could already feel the crawler rumbling along.

* * *

When at last they finished their tale - one that lacked quite a lot of the truth from within - the room was silent for several minutes. It was a remembering of the great storm that had struck them, and of their friend that had sunk beneath the waves. A tale that spoke of the help and bravery of their fellow matoran, once they'd drifted to the southern continent.

A tale that contained no toa, nor makuta; no prisons or strange kraata. A tale of the bravery and sacrifice of matoran alone. It was a tale that would, indeed, be remembered if only in their own corner of the continent. The turaga hummed and scratched at his mask, eyes thoughtful behind his dark mask. "You have been through much, matoran," he said. "We will hold a memorial for Korora - but tomorrow," he added. "For now, rest. And you, Nayua - if you would be so kind as to stay, I would like to discuss with you your return voyage, or whatever it is we can offer to repay you."

Nayua smiled to the turaga and nodded, an eager look on her face, while the remaining four rose to their feet and, with a bow, left the hut. Now that they'd arrived, the exhaustion had set in. They were still a good ways from their home yet, but they did indeed need to rest, and they needed time to cope. "I wish Har-" Miya began, before Satris hurried covered her mouth and shushed her as loudly as he dared. Her eyes widened, and she nodded - if anyone had been close, that slip-up could have cost them. They walked in silence until they reached the large hut they shared when they usually stopped in the village. Ereyin entered last and closed the door behind them before moving off to find a place to sleep; Satris followed her, leaving Cratix and Miyaji in the main room, where the ta-matoran heard them speaking in hushed tones for hours that passed.

He lost track of time listening to the distant mutterings. His thoughts wandered; Makuta, Toa, and strange leeches plagued them, wild rahi and great swathes of water and forests. It was Ereyin that pulled him out of them when she went to sit next to him. His eyes flitted over to her; he sat up and shifted so they were sitting side-to-side. Her hands were joined in her lap, and the toa stone sat on them, pulsing faintly. Her eyes were focused on it, and she remained silent. After a minute, Satris pulled out his own. While the stones were nothing of note - just pebbles from a beach - there was an aura about them, now. When they'd received them, it had appeared mostly black, but now the aura had changed ever so slightly - Ereyin's stone was shifting to green very slowly, while his own had a reddish glow in the near-darkness of the room.

"They're pulsing," she remarked almost casually after a few minutes of silence. "Just a little." She was right, of course - he could feel it more than he could see it, as if the stone were pressing against his hands. It was almost as if it were alive. Almost.

"How do you think they work?" Satris asked her after a moment. Every matoran had heard stories of toa stones by a matter of course, but he'd never thought of how exactly they were meant to be used.

"I think they'll do what they must in time," she replied softly, though she sounded uncertain. They were traders, not warriors or defenders. Or _were_ traders, in any case. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Ereyin hid the stone away and looked at him. "You lie well," she said, and he wasn't sure if she was wary or thankful. Perhaps both. He offered the faintest shrug, looking at the stone in his hands. "I did what I had to," he offered. "I did what Harran told us to do. No one would believe us. It's easier to pretend it didn't happen."

"Until we become toa," she said.

"Until we become toa," he agreed. "But even then, we can't just openly call out the Makuta. Maybe it was just Mutran. Maybe there was something weird on that base. But what if it was all the Makuta? Who would believe four Matoran? Or even four Toa?"

"We don't have the power to do anything now," she agreed. "For now, we need to ignore it. Remember it, but ignore it. And then, some day…"

"Yes," he agreed. "Some day."

Silence took over again, until he spoke. "Cratix and I are staying put once we get back to the village," he told her. "I think Miyaji is planning for that as well. Are you going to stay with us or keep moving?"

"Keep moving," she said. "But I'm staying on the continent. There's plenty to do in the city - rahi coming in on the way to Metru Nui, discoveries that need to be studied from all over. I might try and visit my old workplace and keep there for some time. But I'll visit," she reassured him with a smile. "Regularly."

"That's good," he said. "Stay safe when you travel, will you? Rahi are everywhere."

"I know," she replied with a grin. "I know. What about you? Back to masks? You'd be good at it - those few that you have made since you moved over from…"

"Cratix is intent on inventing and tinkering," Satris said. "But… yes, I might be happy with masks when I'm not doing that. I need to clear the rust and get back into things."

"Well, I'll come and see how it goes," she said, that grin mellowing into a faint smile. "It's been a while since I've seen one of your masks."

"Right," he said with a smile as he slowly put the toa stone away. "Well, I don't know when I'll start up again, but… maybe. Maybe."

* * *

The cabin was silent as the crawler rumbled onwards. Graven had been the last of them to arrive; Cratix was intent on moving it forward once he'd undone the lockdown. He was also the first to speak once they were sure no more of the rahi were attacking - the cloud had opened up even further around them, as if the smaller rahi were more wary of them after their larger cousins had been fought off. Ereyin was watching them intently, studying their movements - ever the biologist.

"We're not moving fast enough," he said, mirroring what the others had agreed upon outside. "How long until you they come back in your opinion, Ere?"

"A matter of hours, I suspect," she said. "We gave them a beating, but they're aggressive and will probably try to push us back again. We need to get out of this swarm."

"So that leaves us with few options," Cratix continued. "I and Graven can move it and get us to our destination, but…"

They all knew why they needed to avoid it. When Graven used his elemental abilities, he would need to wait for them to regenerate on their own - Graven couldn't absorb his element to speed up the regeneration process. Cratix was in a similar situation - purified protodermis wasn't impossible to find, but it would be a little harder to come by during much of their trip.

"We rush the crawler to the closest island," Graven said. "Camp there and wait for our powers to recharge - if you can find any protodermis to absorb you do that. Then we move on. This swarm can't have spread too far, and the next dome is only two more islands away."

Cratix appeared hesitant, but he nodded. "The strain won't be too much?" he asked. Graven scoffed, rising to his feet. "I've held up heavier for longer," he said. "If you're helping me, we can do it in half the time and use up a quarter of the power. And the sooner we begin, the sooner we'll be out of this cloud."

Satris rose to his feet as well and began moving towards the back. He stood by the door as the two discussed, but it was quick. Two minutes passed before Miyaji took over the controls; Cratix and Graven set themselves up for their maneuver. Cratix held the crawler up as Miyaji detached the legs, and then Graven assisted him as they held it up and began moving it forward, slowly accelerating towards the nearest island.

Once the motion was underway, Satris hurried back to his impromptu workshop. The ride would be shorter, but he still had masks to finish building, and the sooner they were made the less they would need to worry about all of it.

Credit where it was due; thirty thousand years had made Graven an expert in using his element. Satris could only mourn the camaraderie they'd once shared. Admittedly, Graven's reasonings for disliking the toa of fire were fair ones.

Even so, he would do it again twenty times over, given the chance. It had been the right choice.

It had been the only choice.

He picked up his firestaff and picked up the next hunk of purified protodermis and began molding. The process would take hours, but he knew exactly what he was doing now. His motions were repetitive and robotic, the same motions he'd repeated five times already just this past day, and thousands of times before.

He was vaguely aware of the crawler moving faster and faster as Cratix and Graven pushed it through the swarm - there was a soft cry somewhere in the distance, the shriek of an unfortunate rahi in the distance. He lost track of time as he moved. He'd be warned when they got there, he figured, and until then he needed to focus. If he could have another mask done by the time they were at the island, he'd be satisfied. But that meant work, uninterrupted.

Another arch was formed, the protodermis being forced back. He imagined he could feel the power leaking from it, but it was just a vague impression borne from millenia of learning to feel such things. He paused again, letting the metal cool, before he got back to work.

He was vaguely aware of the door opening, of the others walking to and fro behind him, gathering gear and checking systems and the like. At some point one of them stopped and stood behind him, watching him, but he continued to work through the arches and curves of the mask. He molded it with an expert hand, through the crawler speeding, rushing through the air, and then gently decelerating and weaving. Almost automatically, he pulled back the firestaff a mere moment before the crawler shuddered and slowed to a stop, shaking him and the mask.

He turned in time to catch Ereyin's smile - which soon was hidden behind a neutral expression. "You're still impressive," she said.

"Seventy thousand years of practice and learning to predict movements," he pointed out.

"I know," she said. "But it's amusing to see it applied to your mask making. You never lost your touch."

"A good thing, too," he pointed out. "Or we'd all be in a bit of a mess for this mission. Even with all of Cratix's inventions. These will make moving around much easier."

She hummed softly and leaned against the table, while he returned to finishing the last few details. "I don't think we'll see many more rahi pas this island," she said. "At the very least, not in the next dome. Most were removed. All that's left are cave-dwellers, and most aren't able to fly. We just grew unusually lucky, here."

"Let's hope none of the suva fell into the water," he commented as he finished shaping the last arch and let the mask sit. The rumbling of the crawler's legs had returned, background noise to join with the reactor's hum. "Or we'll have a time getting to it."

"I think ours and Graven's are safe," she said. "Malzi's…"

"Don't jinx us," he teased. "Now it _will_ be in the water."

"Let's hope not," she said as she rose to her feet. "I'll go join the others. I'm guessing you're going to keep working?"

"One more mask to go," he pointed out. "Once that's done, I can rest easy."

"Alright," she said. "Work well, brother," she said. "We'll handle the rest until then."

He nodded as she moved to the door and returned to the cabin, and set back to work.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Satris grunted as he pulled himself up against the transport, grappling lines reeling in to keep him stabilized. Cratix was only a short distance away, working the protodermis of the transport back into place where it had been damaged. The toa of fire was doing much the same, if more slowly. With great care, he was welding the damaged plates back together where they'd been scratched during the Rahi's initial attack.

Thankfully, the armor was well-built and hadn't taken overmuch damage. After a moment, he pulled back and let his arms hang, looking out into the darkness around them. The mask of adaptation's changes let him see a ways more than he'd be able to otherwise, but he'd grown more aware of the limitations now that they'd landed. In front of the crawler, where the path was illuminated, he could see for a fair distance - but this grew more limited where the light couldn't reach. They hadn't managed to escape the darkness entirely.

He turned his head sharply as he heard a crack in the distance - the one upsideside to the lack of sight. He shut off his Ruru, his eyes found Cratix and he raised an eyebrow. The other turned, noticing that Satris had stopped - or, perhaps, having finished his part as well - and offered only a shrug. They were waiting on the others to return - they'd gone out to scout their surroundings hours past.

There was another crack in another direction, and part of the toa of fire wondered if it might simply be stones falling from the island. From the small region that they could see, it was clear that the land had been damaged in the great battle years before.

Cratix maneuvered his grappling lines to swing over and take a rapid look at Satris' work; he simply nodded, finding it acceptable. Then he, too, looked around for a moment - his eyes lost themselves in the darkness, and he sighed. "This place used to be so full of life," he mourned. "Now look at this - cracked islands, dead trees, no life except for these cave Rahi. I'm almost glad we're breaking this entire thing down - maybe some of these will see life again."

"Maybe," Satris replied. Cratix was on point in his description - nothing surrounded them but stone and the remains of long-dead trees, hard and dry and leafless. Much of the earth had, they guessed, fallen into the ocean so far below, leaving only stone behind. It made maneuvering somewhat precarious. This was where Cratix' grappling lines came in handy, as well as the jets formed by the masks of adaptation.

He pulled one of his lines in and gripped the side of the transport before pulling in the second, and then the third. Carefully, he maneuvered his way back to the airlock and sat on the edge. Cratix followed, moving to the console. His clacking finally drew Satris' curiosity; the toa turned to his brother and tilted his head. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"Locking the air tanks and recyclers," he said. "We don't need them, and there's no point wasting the supplies, now." The clacking continued for a minute or so, and then at last the console was shut down. Cratix sat walked over and sat down, a heavy clang sounding out as he dropped. "Think the others will be back soon?" he asked.

"I don't know," Satris replied. "I don't see anything. I don't feel anything, either," he added a moment later. "They went far - easy to cover ground when you can swing around like a brakas monkey," he pointed out. "Though if you have any doubts, Malzi's Iden is over with the other masks," he pointed out. "Feel free to fly about out there. Nothing's going to find us here."

"And leave you all alone?" Cratix retorted. "Why would I do that? Besides, I trust them and their abilities."

"I'm used to being alone," Satris said softly. "It's nothing new. I've spent longer in worse places. Go," he said, shooing the toa of iron away before he could say anything. "Go find Miya, if nothing else, and then get back here. Besides, it'll only take what - a few minutes? Go."

Cratix opened his mouth to retort before shrugging and rising to his feet; he made his way into the transport and collected the Iden from where it was stored. Satris followed as the former pushed on, finding a seat to set himself in before he swapped the Ruru he wore with the Iden - and a moment later, his body went limp. Satris picked up the fallen Ruru and went to store it, swapping the one he also wore with his Huna.

Even the humming of the reactor had softened; he could almost imagine his surroundings were perfectly silent. He made his way back to the airlock and lay on the floor, the lower half of his legs dangling off of the side. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the silence.

There was another crack somewhere far off, softer than the last two he'd heard. Again, he wondered what it was. Chances were it was nothing important. Since they'd fled the swarm, there had been nothing.

Again, a crack sounded out, somewhere closer this time- the toa sat up carefully, his eyes narrowing. His hearing had been made sharper by the mask of adaptation, but not enough that he could sense what was out there. If he focused just a little, though… His head jerked to the side as he sensed something, and he rose to his feet in a smooth, rapid motion, moving back into the transport slowly, his movements utterly soundless. He shut off what lights fled out from inside as he went, collecting his greatsword and shield from the storage room once he reached it. He kept moving until he found Cratix, and slowly shook his body. "Cratix," he whispered, wondering if that might rouse him - somewhat unsurprisingly, it didn't. "Damnit," he swore before reaching up to the other Toa's face. "Sorry to cut your trip short, brother, but you need to wake up."

Removing another's mask without their consent was a difficult thing - but over time they'd found ways to manage it. Satris didn't bother pulling on the mask- he'd need to strap Cratix down to remove it that way. Instead, he slipped his fingers beneath the mask at key points and pushed his hands outwards- it took a fair bit of effort, but the mask popped off and, a few seconds later, Cratix awakened, though he wasn't fully alert for a few moments. He reached out and grabbed Satris' hand, his expression irritated. "What did you do that for?" he asked, his voice weak. "I barely had the time to go-"

"Shush!" Satris countered, pressing a hand to the other's mouth. He pressed the mask back to Cratix's face and pointed in the direction of the airlock. "Something's outside."

"Something?" Cratix repeated as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Something big."

* * *

"I'm telling you, this is going to be huge!" Cratix shouted from the balcony. Satris raised his firestaff and set down the mask he was working on. His eyes moved to Cratix, and he offered a roll of his eyes. "You've said that twice a day, every day, for the past three weeks," he countered. "Forgive me if I'm not exactly dying of suspense. I'll see it when I see it."

Cratix's feet hammered against the stairs as he came down, grabbing Satris by the hand. The latter offered little resistance to his friend as he was unceremoniously dragged up the stairs and into Cratix's workshop, away from the heat of the forge. "Does this mean I finally get to see what all this plating you had me make is for?" he asked.

Cratix grinned; they moved through one room, then another; Miya stood within the third, in which a relatively large structure was covered by some tarp; she was looking at a monitor and tapping away at the keypad. "Almost done!" she said, glancing back at the two for just a moment; her fingers typed away rapidly before, at last, she stopped and pulled back, grinning. The display shut off a moment later, and she nodded. "Alright. That should do it," she said to Cratix, who was all but hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation.

"Alright. Sate, stay here. Miya, on three!" he exclaimed as he walked up to the tarp and grabbed one corner; Miyaji grabbed the other. "One! Two! Three!" he called out louder than necessary, and they yanked at the tarp; it flew off of the contraption beneath, which turned out to be…

Satris stared at it with his head tilted. "It's a… transport?" he asked.

Cratix looked at it, then at the ta-matoran, and huffed. "You could be a _little_ excited, you know," he said before grumbling something. "But yes, it's a transport. Should be faster than any crawlers, and you can shift the controls so either a matoran _or_ a Toa can use it!" he explained, climbing into the contraption. There was a top of sorts to the cockpit, which he raised to then clamber in; it lowered and slid neatly shut. "The wheel suspension can vary a lot, and it should be able to hold… I want to say four Toa. Or, you know, six matoran. And then if we add a trailer behind it, we could transport a bunch of goods at once!"

Satris looked to Miyaji - he understood where his friend was coming from, though he was a little confused as to what the idea was. She didn't seem to share his thoughts; her excitement was clear to see as she hurried over to the workshop door and set about opening it. "Come on!" Cratix shouted at him. "We're going to take it for a spin!"

"And hope it doesn't break down this time?" Satris countered. Miya swatted him on the arm as Cratix started the transport up and rolled out to the exit. Once outside, Miya opened the side door and the last two matoran entered, making their way up to the front. "Little cramped, isn't it?" Satris commented as Miyaji lead the way.

"We'll work on that. This is just a prototype."

"Right," Satris said. Everything was a prototype with these two. A prototype leading to a prototype that lead to another prototype.

Still, he had to admit he was a little excited, now. What made this transport so special?

Cratix slowly drove it out of the workshop and into the road beyond. They'd set up a ways from the village they'd first stayed in after moving to the northern continent, so long ago - it allowed them to work in peace, but still be close enough to work with their fellows. Ever since their misadventure, it had been home, save for those times when they made trading runs to the city to sell what wares they made.

As they pulled out into the further trails, the other benefit of their location became apparent. Cratix pushed the transport hard, and it responded in kind - they accelerated at an extraordinary rate. Soon enough they were racing down the paths and speeding through trees as the wheels tore up the earth. Cratix was clearly learning how well it controlled in practice, however - they slid now and again when he took a corner too fast, or when he tried to turn too hard. It all culminated in their sliding off-track and slamming side-first into a tree, sending them all flying against the wall.

Satris rose to his feet with a groan, shaking his head to clear dizziness. Cratix, somehow, was already standing - he'd hurried into the back, and Miyaji followed as Satris found his footing. They returned hardly a minute later - the damage wasn't as they'd feared. Barely a scratch, and the plating wasn't dented. Satris went to anchor himself a little more solidly as Cratix went for the controls again and they began rolling off once more.

Having decided that was enough for one day, the Fe-matoran made his way back to the workshop - though he did take the chance to get up to speed again, whizzing through the forest. As they approached the workshop once again, Satris noticed a Rahi that he was sure hadn't been there when they'd left.

"Does anyone else see the Kahu sitting there, or am I going crazy?"

"No, I see it too," Miyaji said - she tapped Cratix on the shoulder and motioned for him to stop a little ways away from the workshop door. They opened the cockpit and scrambled out. Satris found his eyes drawn by the Kahu. It seemed so familiar, though from quite some time ago. His eyes furrowed as he looked towards it. The bird shifted, and he saw a saddle - and then it clicked.

"Guys, it's-"

He was cut off as Ereyin walked out of the workshop entrance, a bright smile on her face. "Hello!" she said brightly, offering a wave. "How have you all been?"

* * *

Satris closed his eyes again. The cracks were getting louder and louder, but he couldn't afford to distract Cratix. The toa of iron was locking down the crawler as quickly and quietly as he could, setting the feet deep into the ground it was holding on. As he did that, the toa of fire had first collected equipment and gotten them each one of the masks of adaptation.

Now he waited, eyes closed, listening and feeling out into what was beyond. The cracks were slowly getting closer - whatever it was was large, but seemingly slow. He felt something, again, and twitched his head as he tried to pinpoint it.

Then he heard it. Something clicking, rasping - something dragging across the stone of the clearing. Close. Extremely close. And it was massive. Damnit, where were the others? They should have been back by now.

Slowly, he shifted, moving to the airlock opening. There was more clicking, another loud crack - and he felt it. It was close - very close. He just didn't know if it was aggressive. He didn't know if he could risk waiting to see if it was. Cratix would still take a few minutes locking down the transport, which meant he needed to buy time. He looked up towards the ceiling and, checking on the mask of adaptation in his pack, he fired a grappling line as far out as he could. It hit with a loud crack of its own, and the toa of fire let himself swing out.

As he did, there was a line of sounds as whatever it was drew in closer to this new development; the toa activated his Ruru as he waited for the creature drew closer.

The shining light illuminated the rahi - and his heart sunk. It was one of those winged snakes they'd fought earlier - and if the way one of its wings appeared slightly wounded was any indication, Satris guessed it was the one he'd sent tumbling.

"Dedicated, aren't you?" he muttered as he fired another grappling line. The light didn't appear to make it react - instead, its head snapped sideways at the crack of the hook sinking into the stone on the ground. It reared its head up - or down, rather, as it were - and let out another shriek before launching towards the source of the sound. The movement was almost blindingly fast - before Satris could even reel in the line it had already snagged it with its wing. He was sent tumbling as his other line was ripped out of the ceiling, and he began to fall.

He would have liked to say, later on, that it was a graceful fall. He would have liked to say that he fell straight and true. The truth was, he spun and flipped this way and that with no control, dimly aware of the lines reeling back in even as one wrapped around his leg. And he fell, the light of his Ruru flying about this way and that.

It would be an unfortunate way to die, he thought briefly - falling several dozen kio and shattering against the ocean below. Completely unfitting. He threw his arms out to either side of himself and focused, firing off streams of flame to stabilize himself. Now that he could at least control his fall, he flipped onto his back - the rahi was still roaring away up above.

It was a split-second decision, and he took it. "Over here, you foul creature!" he shouted even as he wiggled his leg to free it of the grappling line. The shout had the desired effect - the rahi's head snapped over to him and it dove instantly.

Knowing he'd be blind to it, the toa flipped back onto his stomach and maneuvered to slow his fall as much as possible. He shut off the Ruru and closed his eyes, letting his ears guide him, and reaching out to feel the mass of heat diving after him. Closer… Closer… Now!

He spun and fired out a grappling line even as the creature was nearly on top of him - the Ruru shone back to life as he activated it. The rahi barely noticed as the line dug into its shell - though it had the effect of dragging the toa of fire after it. He grunted as they both began to pick up speed. He reeled himself in carefully, avoiding the rahi's hind legs as much as possible. Another line was fired out at the base of its neck, and he unlatched the first once again. He moved up the creature's body this way, but progress was slow, and he was overly aware of how far from the transport they were getting.

One last line was shot out, and he reeled himself onto the back of the creature's head. His greatsword was pulled from his back and raised up; he plunged it deep into the rahi's hide. The effect was instant - the creature let out another shriek and pulled up, trying to rid itself of this sudden nuisance. Unfortunately for it, as he was holding on by both his blade and his grappling lines, it was unlikely the toa would let go so simply - he tensed his jaw and tried to pull at the blade to get it to angle further upwards.

It worked, though perhaps not as well as he would have liked - the creature flew up, but in its efforts to get rid of him, it flew erratically. It shook this way and that, moving further and further away from where he wanted to be.

But up it flew all the same - he kept as low as possible looking up regularly to gauge the distance to the ceiling. As the minutes went by, and he struggled to keep a solid grip, it crept closer and closer. Though as he did so, the harder it was to keep a hold of his blade - if it weren't for the grappling lines, he would have fallen long ago.

At last he saw his chance - he reeled in one of his grappling lines and rapidly pulled his blade out of the rahi. It seemed to notice the change and, for the briefest of moments, calmed down. It was exactly what the toa needed - he fired a grappling line straight up into the rock and reeled himself upwards. Even as he did so, he angled himself and charged another rhotuka spinner. As the rahi began to move again, picking up on the sounds the toa was making, he fired - this time aiming to catch both wings. The spinner hit, the tendrils shot out and latched onto whatever was closest, and within moments the rahi was plummeting towards the sea far below.

Satris panted as he looked around where he hung. The land was unfamiliar, though just as barren as the clearing where the crawler had landed. He shut off the Ruru and made sure he was solidly anchored into the stone before he carefully pulled it off and swapped it with the mask of adaptation in his pack, which thankfully had survived the wild rahi taming.

The world went utterly dark the moment he took off the Ruru. Cratix had likely succeeded in locking down the transport and would be waiting for the others to return - now all Satris had to do was figure out where in Mata Nui's name he actually was.

He couldn't be too far, but in the pitch black a kio could just as well be ten, and with the amount that the rahi had shook him around, he couldn't be sure of what direction to move in.

"Great work, Satris," he muttered under his breath. "Great damn work."

* * *

"I'm glad to see that your work's been treating you well," Ereyin said with another smile as they all sat at the front of the workshop. She eyed the transport that they'd taken for a ride, then looked towards Satris. "Although last I heard, you were making masks."

"Still am, off and on," he admitted. "But I've been helping Cratix and Miyaji around the workshop. It's… good," he added, looking towards his friends. Miyaji chuckled. "He's good with a firestaff, our Satris. Makes the best welds you've seen. And, well, it's good to stick together. Are you sure you don't want to come back?"

Ereyin smiled, but shook her head. "I'm doing good work in the city," she said. "Although that happens to be why I'm here. I could use your help - all of you. There are some rumours of troubles happening far in the north, and I was hoping to collect some samples to bring back for study and archiving. And since you guys are some of the best to make those kinds of tools…"

Satris opened his mouth, but it was Cratix that replied. "We'll go," he said cheerfully. "What do you need made? We can probably manage within a week and go find you in the city."

Ereyin smiled back, a relieved expression on her face. "I need cages," she said. "Reinforced. We're not actually sure exactly what kind of rahi are around, although we're pretty sure that rahi are the ones causing the problems. We could use some equipment to stun them. There's supposed to be a supply coming in from Metru Nui, an archivist team, but we don't know when they're arriving. In the meantime, well, you guys are the best ones I know."

Cratix grinned, and Miyaji had already risen to her feet and walked over to a worktable, beginning to sketch some things out. "We have some lightstones for power," she said, muttering to herself. "If we shape it right…"

Ereyin looked between the two and let out a small laugh as Cratix meandered over to her. They huddled together, thick as thieves and muttering under their breath, drawing here and there and pointing out things to each other on the table. The Bo-matoran rose to her feet and offered Satris a shrug before calling out. "One week, then?"

"Week and a half!" Miyaji called back. "We'll come to you!"

Placated, Ereyin motioned for Satris to follow her. He did just that; they made their way out of the workshop and wandered in silence a little ways away, in the opposite direction of the Kahu she'd rode in on. She lead the way to one of the several copses of trees nearby, making sure they were out of sight of any wanderers - not that there were any wanderers this far away from the nearest village. Satris had to walk for hours to get supplies every week or so.

He was beginning to wonder what she wanted when, with a furtive glance about, she pulled out a gently glowing stone that shifted from green to blue as it moved in her hand. "Do you still have yours?" she asked softly.

"Of course I do," he replied, pulling his out; it was red with small veins of black throughout. It pulsed in his hand, more palpable every day. "We all do. Cratix and Miya don't let their out of their sight."

"I feel like it's been calling me," Ere said after a moment's hesitant silence. "Like it's urging me forward. Maybe… Maybe…" she shrugged. "I don't know. Anyway - would you come with me up north? It'd be nice to get us all back together again, you know?"

"What about Crat and Miya?"

"Are you kidding? I couldn't stop them from coming if I wanted to. They'll come even if only to show off whatever they invent for this."

"I… Yeah, okay," Satris said. "Up north. Week and a half. Maybe two. It's often two with them. They've been getting distracted easily these days."

"Too much focus is as bad as too little, my old teacher used to say," Ereyin replied with a faint smile. "Anyway, I should get going. See you soon."

"Yeah. See you," Satris replied as she hurried over to her Kahu. With a small sigh, he hid the toa stone once again. Only then did he make his way back to the workshop. It was time to get to work.


End file.
